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Chemicals in Food
Organisations | Links | Books | Papers
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Organisations
The Food Commission
94 White Lion Street
London N1 9PF
Tel: 020 7837 2250
E-mail: enquiries@foodcomm.org.uk
Website: www.foodcomm.org.uk
Independent organisation that receives no government funding, nor monies from food manufacturers. Great, informative website exposing the misinformation and dirty tactics of the food industry players.
Food Standards Agency
Aviation House
25 Kingsway
London WC2B 6NH
Website: www.food.gov.uk
E-mail: InfoCentre@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk
Information Centre Helpdesk: 020 7276 8181
Government agency watchdog for food in the UK.
Hyperactive Children's Support Group
Dept W, 71 Whyke Lane
Chichester
West Sussex PO19 7PD
E-mail: hacsg@hacsg.org.uk
Website: www.hacsg.org.uk
Britain's leading proponent of a dietary approach to the problem of hyperactivity. Publications are available from the website.
School Food Trust
N904 Moorfoot
Sheffield S1 4PQ
Info Line: 0800 089 5001 (8am-9pm Mon-Fri; 10am-4pm Sat)
E-mail: info@schoolfoodtrust.org.uk
Website: www.schoolfoodtrust.org.uk
Sponsored by the Dept. of Education and Skills to improve the health and education of children by improving the quality of food in schools. The website lists the new government standards and offers information and guidance on healthy food and kids cooking clubs.
Sustain – Alliance for Better Food and Farming
94 White Lion Street
London N1 9PF
Tel: 020 7837 1228
E-mail: sustain@sustainweb.org
Website: www.sustainweb.org
Advocates food and agriculture policies that enhance the health and welfare of people and animals. The website has lots of information on junk food, clear food labelling, the use of artificial additives and much more.
Links
Additives Linked to Hyperactive Behaviour
www.channel4.com/news/
From E-numbers to preservatives, the cocktail of chemicals routinely added to children's food has a direct link on their behaviour, according to Britain's food watchdog. Channel 4 News has discovered, some of those additives are banned in Europe and America – but not here.
Chew On This
http://chewonthis.org.uk/
Honest information about the food you eat aimed at 11-14 year olds. Useful to anyone who is interested in how our food is produced and its effect on our health and the environment.
Chemicals and 3-year-olds – Food and Behaviour Research
www.fabresearch.org/view_item.aspx?item_id=679
In 2004 Bateman et al conducted research into the effects of artificial colourings and preservatives in the diets of 3-year-old children. They screened 1873 children in what was the largest controlled trial ever. Results showed clear detrimental effects of the food additives (versus placebo) on children's behaviour.
Eat Well, Be Well
www.eatwell.gov.uk/foodlabels/understandlabels/
Food labels can be very confusing with all their different terms and symbols. This interactive site helps you work out what they mean. There is also information on the food additives to avoid if your child shows signs of hyperactivity or ADHD.
Food Additives Make Children Behave Badly
http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style
/women/families/article2395606.ece
The Food Standards Authority commissioned a controlled trial to investigate the effect of food colourings and preservatives on childrens' behaviour. The results, published September 2007, clearly indicate deleterious effects of artificial colourings and preservatives found in many children's drinks and sweets.
Jamie Oliver's Feed Me Better campaign
www.jamieoliver.com/schooldinners
Following on from Jamie's seminal School Dinners series, his website has tons of info on his campaign to ban junk food in schools and get kids eating healthy, tasty food.
TFX – The Campaign Against Trans Fats in Food
www.tfx.org.uk
British organisation campaigning to educate the public and pressurise the government and food industry to avoid – and ultimately ban – trans fats, which are a danger to health and are widely used in processed foods.
Which? Kids' Food
www.which.co.uk/reports_and_campaigns/food_and
_drink/campaigns/kids_food/index.jsp
Calling for an end to irresponsible marketing of food to kids and launched a campaign in 2006 to tackle manufacturers who use underhand marketing methods to sell unhealthy food to children.
Books
A Consumer's Dictionary of Food Additives: Descriptions in plain English of more than 12,000 ingredients both harmful and desirable found in foods by Ruth Winter (Three Rivers Press, 2004)
This valuable reference gives you all the facts about the relative safety and side effects of more than 12,000 ingredients that end up in your food as a result of processing and curing, such as preservatives, food-tainting pesticides, and animal drugs.
Get this book.
The Consumer's Good Chemicals Guide: A jargon free guide to the chemicals of everyday life by John Emsley (Oxford University Press, 1998)
Non-technical reference guide. Provides information for all those concerned about the impact of chemicals, both natural and synthetic, in their foodstuffs, their lives and their environment.
Get this book.
Diet for a Poisoned Planet: How to choose safe foods for you and your family by David Steinman (Thunder's Mouth Press, 2006)
Offers solid, sensible guidelines for safe eating. Includes a Safe Foods Shopping List and a Glossary of Pesticides and Toxic Chemicals.
Get this book.
Not on the Label: What really goes into the food on your plate by Felicity Lawrence (Penguin, 2004)
A devastating exposé of the state of the food production industry in Britain. The average Briton has between 300 and 500 chemicals in his/her body not present 50 years ago, many of which are capable of hormone disruption in the womb. Lawrence also argues that 30-40% of cancers could be prevented through better diet. This book will change the way you eat and the way you think about what you eat.
Get this book.
The Toxic Consumer: How to reduce your exposure to everyday toxic chemicals by Karen Ashton and Elizabeth Salter Green (Impact Publishing, February 2007)
Toxic chemicals found in everyday life are implicated in impaired neurological development in children, birth defects, lower sperm counts, rising rates of testicular and other cancers and increased incidences of diabetes, allergies and attention deficit disorders. This is a clear, precise and accessible guide to the most common toxic chemicals and where they are found in everyday products.
Get this book.
What's in Your Food? The Truth about food additives from aspartame to xanthan gum by Bill Statham (Running Press, January 2007)
A shopper's guide to what'd safe and what isn't, plus how to become label savvy.
Get this book.
Papers
Food Additives and Hyperactive Behaviour in 3-year-old and 8/9-Year-Old Children in the Community: a Randomised, Double-Blinded, Placebo-Controlled Trial
McCann D, Barrett A, Cooper A, Crumpler D, Dalen L, Grimshaw K, Kitchin E, Lok K, Porteous L, Prince E, Sonuga-Barke E, Warner J O, Stevenson J
The Lancet, Sep 2007 (E-publication ahead of publishing)
The Effects of a Double Blind, Placebo Controlled, Artificial Food Colourings and Benzoate Preservative Challenge on Hyperactivity in a General Population Sample of Preschool Children
Bateman B, Warner JO, Hutchinson E, Dean T, Rowlandson P, Gant C, Grundy J, Fitzgerald C and Stevenson J
Archives of Disease in Childhood Vol 89 p506-511, 2004
