Health Matters
From "Maple Street Co-op News", Feb/Mar 2006

• Some food additives stop nerve growth

Mixing common food additives, such as the artificial sweetener aspartame, monosodium glutamate (MSG) and the artificial colourings brilliant blue and quinoline yellow, causes nerve cell damage according to researchers at the University of Liverpool in the UK. The results of a two-year study were recently published in the journal Toxicological Sciences.

Mice were exposed to concentrations of additive combinations relative to what a child would receive in an average snack and drink. Researchers were surprised to see that the additives interfered with nerve signalling systems and actually stopped the nerve cells from growing.

The study reported that the effect on cells could be up to four times greater when brilliant blue and MSG were combined, and up to seven times greater when quinoline yellow and aspartame were combined, than when the additives were applied on their own.

Aspartame is a common ingredient in an estimated 6,000 products – including diet drinks, sweets and flavoured medicines – while MSG is often found in chips, processed cheeses and many processed foods. Brilliant blue is in some processed peas, soft drinks and confectionery as well as desserts and ices. Quinoline yellow (which is banned in Australia) is found in some smoked haddock, confectionery and pickles.

On 14 December, Liberal Democrat MP Roger Williams, a member of the UK parliamentary select committee on food and the environment, called for emergency action to ban aspartame. He highlighted new concerns about the additive's safety, raised by a recent Italian study that linked it to cancer in rats.

While we're on the subject of food additives, the Co-op is very careful about not stocking foods with "bad" additives. But if you'd like to know more about which additives are permissable and which are to be avoided, we can recommend Julie Eady's book Additive Alert: Your Guide to Safer Shopping, available at the Co-op (5% discount to members).

Sources: OCA Organic Bytes, no. 73, 12 Jan 2006, http://www.organicconsumers.org/toxic/msg010306.cfm; The Guardian, UK, 15 & 21 Dec 2005

• Trans fats face worldwide bans

There's a growing movement worldwide to ban trans fats in processed foods. These are partially hydrogenated oils used in deep-fried fast foods as well as in processed foods and baked goods made with margarine or shortening. Food manufacturers use hydrogenation to improve stability of vegetable oils and convert liquid oils into solid fats.

Consumption of trans fats is implicated in increasing rates of obesity globally. According to Michael Jacobson of the US Center for Science in the Public Interest, trans fats are causing about 30,000 premature deaths a year in the US, based on FDA figures. On a gram-for-gram basis, trans fat is "the worst fat in our food supply", he said. Trans fats increase levels of bad LDL cholesterol, and lower the concentration of good HDL cholesterol that protects against heart disease.

The word is getting out, because earlier last year UK supermarket Marks & Spencer banned hydrogenated fats and artificial additives from its ready meals. In December, Tesco told its suppliers they must use traditional cooking techniques and cut out additives like hydrogenated fats, emulsifiers and stabilisers.

The trans fats issue has been put on the agenda here, and in large part due to publication last April of an Australian Consumers' Association study of over 50 processed foods. One commonly eaten burger and fries contained 22.5 per cent trans fat.

There's also a call for labelling revisions. Australian manufacturers aren't required to include the trans fat content of their food unless they make a claim about cholesterol or unsaturated fats; they need only give the levels of total and unsaturated fat on the label. In the USA as of January 2006, labelling of trans fat content above 0.5 grams is mandatory, and in Denmark trans fats will be banned this year. FSANZ is currently surveying how much trans fat is found in the typical Australian diet before it decides on a course of action.

(Sources: "The effects of trans fat", 7.30 Report, ABC TV, 15 Dec 2005; The Organic Advantage, no. 36, 8 Dec 2005; ACA, http://www.choice.com.au; Campaign against trans fats in food, http://www.tfx.org.uk)

• Raw food feasting with Paul Benhaim

Anyone who enjoys eating raw, living foods or would like a few tips on how to create magic raw cuisine will gain much from Maleny local Paul Benhaim's DVD, Not The Cooking Show. Paul (of hemp products fame) has an enthusiastic kitchen presentation as he goes through the processes of making such delights as Yum Thai Curry, Sweet Macadamia Pie (the crust contains a nut mixture) and a Berry Smoothie (whose almond milk base mix is a good alternative to dairy and soy milks). Along the way, he gives tips on soaking nuts and seeds in advance and waxes lyrically about vitamins, minerals and enzymes that are rich in raw foods.

The DVD includes footage of Paul's visits to an organic blueberry farm, a permaculture garden and a natural produce store in the Byron Bay region, as well as interviews with medical practitioners and researchers on the benefits of raw foods.

Paul's entertaining and educational DVD is on sale at the Co-op (members receive a 5% discount).

[From "Maple Street Co-op News", February/March 2006; published by The Maple Street Co-operative Society Ltd, 37 Maple Street, Maleny, Qld 4552, Australia, tel (07) 5494 2088, email maplest.coop@serv.net.au,
website http://www.maplestreetco-op.com.au]