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Preservative effects

The resurgence of the use of organic foods in the has brought more attention to the use of additives to processed foods. Many food additives serve useful purposes. They keep bread from developing mold, slow the growth of bacteria in wine, prevent oils from turning rancid, fruit from browning, and peanut butter from separating. A common preservative is the antioxidant butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT). It slows the development of off-flavors, odors, and color changes caused by oxidation. The uses of BHT are researched throughout the country for their benefits and adverse affects.

The most important use of BHT is as a food preservative. When it is added to products containing fats or oils, oxygen reacts with the additive (BHT) rather than the food itself, protecting the food from spoiling. Among the vast array of food products containing BHT are foods with oil or shortening, breakfast cereals (from Total to Quaker Instant Oatmeal), enriched rice products, and dried soups. BHT is added to a number of non-food products as well. These products include lipstick, lip-gloss, mascara, body and face lotions, diaper rash ointment, deodorant soaps, and shaving creams. The antioxidant properties of BHT make it suitable for other applications also. For example, it is sometimes added to paints and inks to prevent a skin from forming on top of these liquids. The skin is formed when the paint or ink reacts with oxygen in air to form a solid compound. BHT is used as an additive for the preservation of drugs, rubber products, petroleum products, the plastics used in food wraps, and the petroleum wax coatings used on food boxes.

Questions are continually raised about the possible health benefits and risk s posed by BHT. Many believe that BHT is the cause of many adverse problems, including this correspondence from the Western Journal of Medicine ] where they state, “Legitimate toxic side effects, including severe gastrointestinal and neurological toxicities, have been reported after ingestion of standard and suggested doses” (Grogan 245). Many of these studies seem to be inconclusive, however, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has decided that BHT can be used as food additive if the amount added is less than 0.02 percent by weight.

Just as many studies seem to investigate the possible benefits of the compound BHT. An article in The New York Times states, “Advocates of natural foods have long objected to the use of preservatives, but Dr. Andrew Dannenberg of found that the preservatives BHA and BHT boosted the gene for an enzyme that helps destroy carcinogens before they lead to tumors.” Other research is underway showing that BHT may destroy the herpes virus and the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Most nutritionists agree that antioxidants can be helpful in protecting cells and tissues from aging and damage by oxygen.

What can be drawn from all of this opposing opinion and research? The use of preservatives is necessary, unless we want to buy all of our food fresh daily and use it right away. With any chemical or compound large exposure to them can be dangerous. The FDA mandates the percent allowed in foods and deems them safe for our consumption. Additives to food like BHT and other preservatives will continue to be debated for decades to come.