SALT Central Coast Issue 1, April 2014 | Page 29

Turmoil in the Trolley The purpose of food additives has greatly changed since our grandparents day. Back then we fermented, cured, salted, and smoked our food, simply as a matter of survival. What was once needed for food preservation is now more about improving taste, texture, aesthetics, and longevity. Sadly the food industry is about making profit as much as it is about making food. Thousands of chemicals have been poured into our food supply in the last 50yrs without knowing just how these additives will affect us long term. On top of those going directly into our food, many indirect additives will also be used in the process. Machinery may require chemicals to move the food along on the process/ conveyer belt and even though that gets on your food it isn’t required to be labelled. Then there are methods of transportation and storage that may involve gases and the irradiation of foods for ‘quality’.  FOOD AS MEDICINE T