Preservatives are found in many common foods. Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) is a popular food preservative that prevents changes in flavor or color, says Demetre Whitmore, a registered dietitian at the Washington Cancer Institute at the Washington Hospital Center in Northwest. Along with its relative, butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), it is used primarily in high-fat foods, such as baked products, croissants or doughnuts.
When BHA was used on lab animals, it caused tumors in the forestomach of rats, Miss Whitmore says. It also caused tumors in the livers of fish.
“It hasn’t been found to cause tumors in humans,” Miss Whitmore says. “Animals tested were given doses thousands of times higher than humans would be exposed to.”
Nitrites are another common food preservative that serve as antimicrobials, killing molds, yeasts, fungus and bacteria in meats, such as salami and bacon, Miss Whitmore says. Unfortunately, nitrites can react with amines in the human body to produce nitrosamines, many of which are known to cause cancer.
“Researchers found if red meat is cooked at very high temperatures, like grilling and frying, that’s when the nitrosamines are formed,” Miss Whitmore says. “You can go to places like free range meat and organic markets, where they tend to carry nitrite-free meats.”
A small percentage of the population has a sensitivity to sulfites, a family of preservatives used to prevent spoilage and discoloration of food, Miss Whitmore says. The six sulfites commonly used by the food industry are sulfur dioxide, sodium sulfite, sodium bisulfite, potassium bisulfite, sodium metabisulfite and potassium metabisulfite.
People with allergic reactions to sulfites can experience hives, nausea, diarrhea and even respiratory failure.
— Jen Waters
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