E for Additives. Maurice Hanssen
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Название: E for Additives
Автор: Maurice Hanssen
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Спорт, фитнес
isbn: 9780007381562
isbn:
The 1984 Food Labelling Regulations gave us, for the first time, a good insight into what we were eating and gave me the chance to write E for Additives. Even if the book had not sold a single copy I would have needed it for myself and my family. But in the event it was a bestseller which has prompted fundamental changes in the food that we buy. Almost overnight, crisp manufacturers found that they could remove E320 and E321. This may have reduced the shelf-life of the crisps but, with the odd exception of Scotland where apparently food takes a long time to be delivered, the additive-free crisps lasted quite long enough for any shop with a good turnover of stock. This story was repeated, with a wide range of unnecessary and, to some sensitive people, harmful additives, being removed.
A close and careful reading of The New E for Additives will show you that there are doubts about only 1 in 5 of the additives commonly used in British food. Some of these have been the most common but, fortunately, public pressure is reducing their usage. Toxicity is dose related and at some level of intake all foods are toxic We have to keep a balance, but we also have to ensure that we are not being misled with our senses distorted by the use of additives so that high fat and high sugar foods with a very low essential nutrient content give the feeling, appearance, and taste that they are good balanced nutrition. They may be, but an informed look at the label can in most cases give the true picture.
E for Additives provoked a huge correspondence from both consumers and manufacturers, a lot of which was extremely useful in preparing this new edition. It reflects the vast amount of new knowledge that has become available during the intervening three years and its purpose is to increase understanding and to encourage the enjoyment of good, well-prepared foods whether they be in the home, restaurant, health store, or supermarket.
Since 1 January 1986 most foods have had to carry a relatively complete list of ingredients. Flavourings do not have to be declared, except by the word ‘flavourings’, but all the other ingredients, including water, have to be listed in descending order by weight, determined as at the time of their use in the preparation of the food. Water, when there is more than 5 per cent, and other volatile products which are added as ingredients of the food, are listed in order of their weight in the finished product, the weight being calculated in the case of water by deducting from the total weight of the finished product the total weight of the other ingredients used.
If an ingredient used in food is in a concentrated or dried form and becomes reconstituted during the preparation of the food then the weight, in determining the order of the list of ingredients, can be the weight of the ingredient before it has been concentrated or dried. If the food is itself a mixture of concentrated or dried ingredients which have to be reconstituted by adding water, then it is allowable to list the ingredients in descending order of their weight when reconstituted provided that, instead of just saying ingredients’, the list is preceded by the words ‘ingredients of the reconstituted product’, or something similar.
If a food consists of, or contains, mixed fruits, nuts, vegetables, spices, or herbs and no particular fruit, nut, vegetable, spice, or herb predominates significantly by weight, the ingredients can be listed in no particular order if the list is headed by a phrase such as ‘in variable proportion’, and if the variable proportion mix is just a part of the list of ingredients, then the producer can state that that part of the ingredients list is in variable proportion.
Therefore, with a few exceptions, ingredients are listed in descending order by weight. It is very important to take this into account when reading the label. Many soup or dessert mixes have remarkably similar lists of ingredients in which sugar, starch or flour of some sort, and hydrogenated vegetable fat are high up on the list of ingredients, and sometimes the designated variety of the product such as tomato or strawberry is present in small amounts, or maybe altogether absent.
Food has to be described in a way which is not misleading, using, where there is one, the name prescribed by law, and if there is not, then a customary name, and failing that a precise enough description to inform the purchaser of its true nature and, if needed, a description of its use A made-up name cannot be used instead of the proper name of the food.
‘Flavour’ is a word that does not mean quite what it seems to because if a product is, for example, ‘strawberry flavour’ then it need not contain any strawberry at all. If it is ‘strawberry flavoured’ then a significant part of its flavour must be from strawberries, and if it is ‘strawberry’ then it is made with whole strawberries. This is a rule of thumb which is not enshrined in law, and a number of manufacturers and Local Authorities are of the view that both words ‘flavour’ and ‘flavoured’ are themselves misleading, and a proper description of the product which does not contain any of the designated substance would be ‘artificially flavoured’. Until this is tested in the High Court, or a new regulation is made, the consumer is left with an uncertain and misleading situation.
‘No added sugar’ is another area of potential misinformation. Because many people are worried that too much sugar will cause them to put on excess weight they look out for products which are sugar-free or contain no added sugar. This description is applied even when the food contains a very large quantity of naturally occurring sugars. An example is jam made without added sugar but with concentrated apple or pear juice containing a naturally high level of sugar. Sugar is being interpreted by certain manufacturers as being just the use of sucrose (table sugar). Other sugars, such as lactose and fructose, are sometimes also included in products which are said to have no added sugar.
Certain diet products are equally misleading; for example, there is a diet bar on sale which has sugar as its second largest ingredient. There is also a tendency for manufacturers to say ‘no added colour’ or ‘no preservatives’ or ‘no artificial ingredients’, all of which may be true but does not alter the fact that the food itself is of low nutritional worth. There is no substitute for reading the ingredient list.
Date Marking
Date marking is now required on most pre-packed foods (with a few exceptions, such as frozen foods, wine and vinegar) unless they have a shelf-life of at least 18 months. Even products with a very long shelf-life may be marked, but this is not mandatory. This is expressed as either:
• A best before date (day, month, year) plus storage conditions (if necessary).
Or:
• If the food has a ‘life’ of between 3 months and 19 months, a best before end date (month, year).
• If the food has a ‘life’ of between 6 weeks and 3 months, a best before date (day, month) plus storage conditions (if necessary).
• If the food is perishable and is intended for consumption within 6 weeks of being packed, a sell by date (day, month) plus storage conditions and a storage period after purchase.
There is no reason why you should not buy overdue products, especially if they are reduced in price, because the onus is on the shopkeeper to provide goods which live up to the quality of their description, in other words they must not be bad or ‘off’. With the longer time datings you are safe in buying goods that are near the end of their expiry date if the СКАЧАТЬ