Food Additives In Children: Everything You Need To Know
The use of food additives has been a great advance, since they serve to preserve food for longer while maintaining its texture, flavor and color. However, adverse reactions have been reported, so they undergo a control to assess their safety and to establish maximum limits for use and consumption.
Who do you think are the most affected? Next, we want to teach you the effects of food additives in children based on the little evidence that there is so far.
They appear on the label by means of a number preceded by the letter E (referring to Europe) or with a name. The vast majority is added to processed and prepared foods, such as cookies, juices, jam, broths, dehydrated soups, breakfast cereals, soft drinks, etc.
Did you know that they can accumulate in some organs and alter their functions due to similarity to certain hormones? Therefore, children, weighing less and not being well developed, are the most exposed and those who suffer the most consequences.
Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity: How Do Additives Affect Child Behavior?
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most common neurodevelopmental disorder in children, characterized by inattention, impulsivity and difficulty in establishing relationships with others.
Although the causes are unknown, research points to genetics and other environmental factors, such as diet, exposure to heavy metals during pregnancy, low birth weight, etc.
On the one hand, some studies, such as that of South Hampton (United Kingdom), show an increase in hyperactivity in children of 3 years as well as in 8 or 9 produced by artificial colors and sodium benzoate.
On the other hand, in Hong Kong they could not establish any relationship. After 5 years, a review of both studies concluded that hyperactivity only occurred in children with sensitivity to dyes, regardless of whether they had Inattention Hyperactivity Disorder.
Is there a relationship between food additives in children and the appearance of autism?
As for autism, the milk gluten and casein exclusion diet is effective, although in those with digestive problems. This relationship has been established by realizing that IgE and IgG antibodies are increased.
In addition, they present an inflammation aggravated by dairy and gluten, which makes it difficult for the immune system to function properly. In turn, they have greater intestinal permeability, which alters the microbiota. On the contrary, additives do not pose any problem to consume them.
Hypersensitivity due to consumption of additives in children
Although it is something difficult to believe, additives can cause allergies whose prevalence is 1-2% in children. In addition, it usually increases if they have atopy or allergy to some other food, and can reach 7%. The most common are tartrazine, which is a colorant, and sulfites.
It appears after a few minutes or hours of having eaten them through hives, asthma, irritability and alteration of the sleep pattern.
They can also present symptoms not mediated by IgE , being what is known as intolerance. The problem arises when establishing a diagnosis, since there are no standardized extracts and they tend to go unnoticed because they are less frequent reactions.
Food additives in children: what to do?
In summary, food additives in children do not pose any problem, except in the situations mentioned above. Perhaps the greatest concern would be frequent exposure due to the type of products in which they are added, which have low nutritional quality.
They are very rich in low-quality fats and added sugars, whose consumption is recommended to be occasional. They contribute to the appearance of cardiovascular and metabolic pathologies that decrease the quality of life.
Finally, it is important to note that some additives are natural and commonly used when cooking, such as acetic and ascorbic acid from vinegar and citrus fruits, which prevent avocado and artichokes from turning black, for example. Even turmeric acts as a coloring and is a very rich spice in antioxidants.
But there are also synthetics, which are usually the most feared, and for that reason the trend of the industry is to highlight on the label that they do not contain dyes or are 100% natural. Even in the list of ingredients they put the name without accompanying it by the number so that you can buy them without thinking twice.
