5 Foods That Have Sneaky Additives
Don’t you hate it when you think you are eating something healthy and then someone tells you it’s not so healthy?
That’s exactly how I felt when I found out about these five foods.
You really have to read labels, ask questions and educate yourself about what is in your food.
This is even more important if your family is having health issues, allergies or reactions to additives.
Here are five foods that would seem healthy, but unfortunately, they can all contain sneaky additives!
1. Prawns
Prawns can contain 223 or sodium metabisulphite. Sue Dengate at her website, Fed Up says ” Prawns always contain sulphites to preserve colour. The maximum permitted level is 30 ppm, but how well is it monitored? One seafood worker explained how they use ‘metta’ (sodium metabisulphite, 223). It is a white powder sprinkled over sackfuls of fresh prawns by people wearing rubber gloves. Some prawns must have higher readings than others.”
What’s better? Buy prawns that are packaged and labelled without the 223 or get to know your fish monger and ask the questions!
2. Grated Cheese
Check on the back of your grated cheese. Quite often it will contain anti-caking agent 460. It is also called ‘cellulose microcrystalline and powdered’ – it’s essentially wood pulp! Although Additive Alert tells us it is ‘generally regarded as safe’ it has been banned in UK baby food. “Cellulose is non soluble, but can be fermented in the large intestine. Large concentrations can cause intestinal problems, such as bloating, constipation and diarrhoea.” mbm.net Not something I really want to eat, thanks all the same!
What’s better? Buy a block of cheese and grate it yourself. Use a food processor and freeze it if you want a quick option.
3. Vegemite
I can already hear you all saying, but it’s a health food! I found this one out many years ago and banished Vegemite from our house. Sue Dengate at Fed Up says that “yeast extracts contain free glutamates that are essentially the same as MSG”. Vegemite also contains natural colour (150d) which contains preservative 220. Remember I have talked about 220 before?
What’s better? You can buy alternative products like Everymite which are allergy friendly and preservative free.
4. Milk
Milk is milk is milk…..right? Not so! Read the label to make sure you are getting 100% milk! Choice Australia says “more than a third of branded “milk” products contain non-dairy additives, such as minerals, vitamins, or vegetable or fish oil. Under the Food Standards Code the manufacturers are not allowed to call these products “milk” on the label, yet they look like milk, are packaged like milk and are kept in the milk fridge in the supermarket.”
What’s better? Read labels, choose small independent milk brands, choose organic or raw milk.
5. Multi-Vitamins
Okay so not really a ‘food’, but still something we give to our kids to ingest.
The very things you buy to improve your health may actually be damaging it. Kid’s vitamins can contain artificial colours, flavours and additives. One brand for example, Flintstones, has a ridiculous amount of artificial additives and sugar in various forms.
What’s better? We love the superfood organic powders for that bit of extra nutrient insurance. Find them here.
Sooooo I don’t want to freak you all out! I just want you to know this information and be aware. It doesn’t mean you have to stop eating them. It means you now have the information to make a choice. You might like to change brands or grate your own cheese for example. Knowledge is power!
What foods have you found that contain sneaky additives?
I had heard rumours about the grated cheese….now I know for sure! Thanks for sharing this info, will def be grating my own in future (can be done with food processor? That would be another reason for finally buying one!)
yes Pam and it’s cheaper too!! Grate in bulk (in a food processor) and freeze !
I can anecdotally confirm that anti-caking agents cause intestinal problems.
I recently moved to Australia from the UK and have always been strict with my diet because I do a strength sport (as many fresh foods as possible, even have a spreadsheet so I can plan calories and nutrients!).
I was looking to change my diet and as part of that, increase the fat and protein in order to lose weight and one cheap option for a fat that I thought I could include was grated mozzarella (for those that don’t know, actual mozzarella is one of the healthiest cheeses you can eat, especially buffalo mozzarella).
I started this diet 5 months ago (eating the same thing 5-6 days a week) and until 3 weeks ago all was working fine. I had been having 2 helpings of grated mozzarella a day (from either Coles or Woolworths), one at lunch and one at dinner which totalled to around 140g (which isn’t a lot for me as I am a large person).
Around 3 weeks ago was where the issues started, intestinal pains and quite bad constipation (didn’t go for 3 days). After a few days and some fibre I felt fine and the issue resolved itself, only for it to repeat itself again yesterday.
The episode yesterday was not as bad as the original because after the first episode I suspected it may be all the cheese so took it out of a few of my meals a week and instead used an equivalent amount of mashed avocado.
I plan to take the cheese out completely now and use other sources of fat like avocado or if i do want to use cheese, then use buffalo mozzarella.
I appreciate my case is one which is probably extreme however it may help prove the dangers so I will say learn from my mistake – Don’t buy cheap if you are going to eat a lot of a particular food, especially if that food has something that can cause problems with digestion like an anti-caking agent! Buy good quality (value for money) fresh ingredients where possible/affordable and have the peace of mind that you will be on the better side of the phrase ‘you are what you eat’.
VEGEMITE! Devastated…
soz!!!
Yes i have heard rumors but didn’t want to listen!
Ahh well – now you can decide 🙂
Thanks Sonia x
I didn’t know about the prawns 🙁
It’s pretty sad isn’t it!
Thanks for that, didn’t know about prawns and vegemite!! Everything is tampered with these days 🙁
Isn’t it!! I wish they would leave our food alone!!
Interesting about the prawns, I wonder if this is just cooked prawns and what about Aussie fresh prawns?????….I knew about all the others….try grating cheese yourself and see how quickly it sticks together, then check out the ones in a packet…clearly is has something in it to stop it from sticking together!
Thanks for an informative blog as always Sonia x
thanks Collette! From reading, it seems like most prawns. Katrina from Feeding Two Growing Boys managed to find some without I think.
Nooooooooooooo not Vegemite! Thats going to be one tough habit to break – we love homemade Vegemite scrolls 🙁 I’m with Rebecca…..devasted
If it doesn’t affect you, don’t worry too much – just use in small amounts. But some people get really sick from it, so it pays to be aware this could be causing trouble. 🙂
Not an additive as such, but I was very surprised to see that the Woolworths lamingtons contain gelatin (animal by- product). Surely it should be sponge, chocolate & coconut?! It really does pay to read every label.
weird !! sucks if you are vegetarian!!
I would love to know if anyone has found a healthy Vegemite alternative. The Freedom Foods version is absolutely awful.
It is !! Kids revolted about that one! Tanya from Additive Free Pantry uses miso paste and one of my readers said Spiral brand brown rice miso paste?
I have been using miso for years instead of vegemite because I realised how bad it was. You can get Australian made, soy-free, organic unpasteurised miso paste. I personally wouldn’t get anything made in japan due to radiation but that’s just me.
There’s this place in NSW: http://www.bluemountainsmiso.com.au/ and probably more if you look round.
Thanks for the heads up Alex – very good to know a local place 🙂
I’m not a big vegemite fan but strangely when I don’t feel well I crave it! I had heard that it was not good for you and one day when I was shopping at an organic store I was given a sample of miso on a bit of crusty toast.. Personally it gives me the vegemite hit and I actually prefer it. Not as strong as vegemite but still that salty vegemite flavour.
That is good to know! What brand do you use? The one I tried was yukky. 🙂
I’m allergic to sulphites. Knew they were in Vegemite but not the prawns so thanks for letting me know. I’ve found sulphites are frequently a sneaky additive as they are only listed when the manufacturer puts them and in and not when they use a product that contains sulphites eg Pringles (dehydrated potato), Cherry Ripe (desiccated coconut) or sausage rolls (dehydrated vegetables). There’s also a lot of products claiming they have no added preservatives even though they have dried fruit in them.
That is so crazy for you to have to find them all! Uggh!
Do you no what brands of milk contain all the extras and can I ask if you are not allergic to milk is it alright to drink health wise thanks
Jodie the debate about dairy still rages. Personally I think if you don’t have any worries, then drink it but try to drink it raw or organic to get the best benefits. There are lots with additives – ie ones with fibre or inulin are the ones I would avoid! You just have to check the ingredients list. 🙂
Thanks for that I do when I can afford eating healthy puts big strain on budget. And I defiantly will be checking out the ingredients thanks again
It pays to just read things to make sure!
I knew about the grated cheese, and the kids vitamins is almost a gimme, but I did not know about vegemite (vegemite!) or prawns. 🙁 We always have miso in the fridge for making cups of miso soup, so I might have to try it on toast. Hope the kids like it…
Hi ,i love your articals, but never herd of prawns being caught ,packed or delivered by the sack . When prawns are caught at sea and kept green ,before freezing them ,they dip them in seawater and 223. It ,from what i understand keeps them from going black by killing bacteria in the prawns from the dipping .But if you eat prawns dipped in 223 ,compared to prawns caught fresh and cooked with out being dipped ,they fresh prawns are so much more better. the others need to be thawed in a salty icy brine ,to help dissolve the 223 .aloha.
Thanks for the info – glad I don’t eat prawns too often – is there any way to get prawns without this additive???
As for the cheese – thank goodness the Aldi brand cheese doesn’t have the anti caking agent, or any other chemicals – it’s the only cheese Connor will eat!
Great work as always 🙂
you would have to shop around for prawns – best bet is to make friends with a fisherman! there are some brands without and it will say it on the packet but few and far between. Thanks Alison xx
Aldi grated cheese does have an additive, 460Powdered Cellulose from wood pulp. I found this out today so will be grating my own from Aldi’s Westacre Tasty Cheese.
Hi Judy, yes it’s very common with grated cheese – I always do my own!
I just heard today regarding the anticaking agent 460 in grated cheese it is terrible that we have to eat these additives and not know about it. They should have ingredients listed on packet so we are aware of what we are eating. My husband has just gone to Supermarket to buy a block of cheese and we will be grating our own from now on. We really do not know what we are eating anymore and then wonder why we have so many digestion problems.
exactly – our bodies aren’t designed to handle foreign bodies!
In response to Alison G take a look at the back of the packet of Aldi cheese and it also contains anticaking agent 460.
I never thought about checking cheese! I wondered why I react more when I eat grated cheese rather than grating my own…time to build those arm muscles 😉
Yes! Or chuck it in the food processor 🙂
Unfortunately nothing surprises me anymore when it comes to ‘food’!
sad hey?
Terrible allergic or anaphylactic reactions to sodium metabisulphite or other sulphur derivitives which are used as a preservative in prawns ( more in green prawns than cooked, but in both) shellfish, wine, both red & white amongst other foods should make you very cautious about actually eating these products. Although not everyone will have a sever reaction they have adverse effects on virtually everybody. When someone tells you they are allergic to seafood it is more likely they have experienced an adverse effect from the 220′ 223′ 224 or 225 type preservatives present in unstated & variable quantities in these foods. Wine drinkers suffer similar effects. It is time we had much tighter controls over their use & actual levels in ppm should be measured & disclosed.
Hi new age mum, I’m a 32 year old father of 4, and a husband of one very difficult woman. About 8 years ago she became obsessed with health foods and organic produce. We are by no mean a wealthy family and struggle to maintain my wife’s food needs under the pressure of needing to eat organic. Two out of four of our children are underweight and my concern fall on deaf ears with my wife. This obsession with eating nothing with numbers has gone too far and it’s putting enormous stress on our marriage. I grew up eating vegemite and party pies all mixed into a balanced diet of meats and vegetable bought from Coles. I’m fit healthy and if average weight. How can the need to eat organic be so critical now? And is it truly worth the stress it puts on our family?
Hi Scott. I would answer you no. It’s not worth the stress it is putting on your family. I think all of us go through a certain obsession with our food once we realize how bad the chemicals and other junk they put in it are. However, I am now a lot more relaxed about what I eat. The 80/20 rule is a good one to live by. The stress of worrying about what you eat is probably worse for your body that the chemicals! I would be investigating orthorexia and see if you can identify this condition with your wife? I wish you all the best.
I have never tried so can’t give any feedback but you can get an additive and preservative free vegemite spread, I’ve heard from other people it tastes great and their kids love it
https://glutenfreeshop.com.au/naked-treaties-i-am-mighty-organic-savoury-spread-190g.html
Aha! Yes, I have tried this one. Kids hated, hubby loved. They were out of production of it for a while, good to see you cant get it again! Thanks for the heads up Jodie xx
There is an organic one called EVERYMITE which I am going to look for next time I go shopping.
Everymite is amazing! I just featured them last month!