With the recent problems with bisphenol A, a chemical found in baby bottles and sippy cups, I decided to do a little looking for other chemicals that we digest everyday, and are considered to be harmful to people of all ages. Below this article is a list of some of the hazardous chemicals found in our foods. Although these chemicals are found to pose a risk to the populace, companies are continuing to make and distribute foods with the chemicals; at times much of the ingredient is a chemical. The FDA is allowing the chemicals to be in our foods, even though the FDA claims that the chemicals have been tested and pose little or no harm. I question this comment from the FDA, while the possibility of small doses of a certain chemical may prove not to be a problem, what are the threats when a higher and mixed number of these chemicals are ingested into the body? Most people eat processed foods at every meal. Packaged foods are now a way of life for the American people. Long gone are gardens that most people had. Busy life styles and the loss of farmlands have contributed to this escalating problem. And the loss of decent incomes to a good number of Americans, push people to buy cheaper foods, which have more chemicals in them, Unable to afford more natural foods.

Another problem is the fact that people do not want to eat an apple with a wormhole or blemish, so once again we resort to pesticides, to make the perfect apple. We want fast growing beef so what do we do? We inject growth hormones behind the animal's ear so it will grow twice as fast. Come on people start paying attention and start thinking for yourself, have you ever wondered why people are getting unhealthier as decades come and go? Figure it out, why an increase of all types of cancers, in all genders? Why are our kids so fat? It is not all because of TV and computer games. It is our poor chemically induced diets.

Look how the FDA comes out saying that this drug or chemical was tested and found to be safe, then a few years later we find that that was not the case and the tested item causes all kinds of terrible problems. In my opinion I would say just because the FDA ok's something I would take their testing results with a grain of salt. I hope the information below gives you an idea of what exactly we are eating. And maybe we can demand changes in the way our foods are processed. If we cant get changes, then we must stop buying products that are heavily saturated with chemicals, as a society we must start growing a good share of our foods ourselves, and start canning and freezing our foods when ever we can.

Cut around a wormhole and eat a blemish it's a lot healthier than the chemical used to prevent the worm. Besides we all can use a little extra protein especially with our fruit.

ACESULFAME-K
Artificial sweetener: Baked goods, chewing gum, gelatin desserts, diet soda.

This artificial sweetener, manufactured by Hoechst, a giant German chemical company, is widely used around the world. It is about 200 times sweeter than sugar. In the United States, for several years acesulfame-K (the K is the chemical symbol for potassium) was permitted only in such foods as sugar-free baked goods, chewing gum, and gelatin desserts. In July 1998, the FDA allowed this chemical to be used in soft drinks, thereby greatly increasing consumer exposure. It is often used together with sucralose (see SUCRALOSE).

The safety tests of acesulfame-K were conducted in the 1970s and were of mediocre quality. Key rat tests were afflicted by disease in the animal colonies; a mouse study was several months too brief and did not expose animals during gestation. Two rat studies suggest that the additive might cause cancer. It was for those reasons that in 1996 the Center for Science in the Public Interest urged the FDA to require better testing before permitting acesulfame-K in soft drinks. In addition, large doses of acetoacetamide, a breakdown product, have been shown to affect the thyroid in rats, rabbits, and dogs. Hopefully, the small amounts in food are not harmful

ARTIFICIAL COLORINGS: BLUE 1
Beverages, candy, baked goods. Inadequately tested; suggestions of a small cancer risk.

ARTIFICIAL COLORINGS: BLUE  2
Pet food, beverages, candy. The largest study suggested, but did not prove, that this dye caused brain tumors in male mice. The FDA concluded that there is "reasonable certainty of no harm.

ARTIFICIAL COLORINGS: CITRUS RED  2
Skin of some Florida oranges only. Studies indicated that this additive might slightly increase the risk of cancer. The dye does

ARTIFICIAL COLORINGS: RED 40
Soda pop, candy, gelatin desserts, pastries, pet food, sausage. The most widely used food dye. While this is one of the most-tested food dyes, the key mouse tests were flawed and inconclusive. An FDA review committee acknowledged problems, but said evidence of harm was not "consistent" or "substantial." Like other dyes, Red 40 is used mainly in junk foodsnot seep through the orange skin into the pulp. No risk except when eating peel.

ARTIFICIAL COLORINGS: YELLOW  6
Beverages, sausage, baked goods, candy, gelatin. Industry-sponsored animal tests indicated that this dye, the third most widely used, causes tumors of the adrenal gland and kidney. In addition, small amounts of several carcinogens contaminate Yellow 6. However, the FDA reviewed those data and found reasons to conclude that Yellow 6 does not pose a significant cancer risk to humans. Yellow 6 may also cause occasional allergic reactions.

ASPARTAME
Artificial sweetener: "Diet" foods, including soft drinks, drink mixes, gelatin desserts, low-calorie frozen desserts, packets.

Aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet), a chemical combination of two amino acids and methanol, was initially thought to be the perfect artificial sweetener, but it might cause cancer or neurological problems such as dizziness or hallucinations.

A 1970s study suggested that aspartame caused brain tumors in rats. However, the Food and Drug Administration persuaded an independent review panel to reverse its conclusion that aspartame was unsafe. The California Environmental Protection Agency and others have urged that independent scientists conduct new animal studies to resolve the cancer question. In 2005, researchers at the Ramazzini Foundation in Bologna, Italy, conducted the first such study. It indicated that rats first exposed to aspartame at eight weeks of age caused lymphomas and leukemias in females. However, the European Food Safety Authority reviewed the study and concluded that the tumors probably occurred just by chance.

In 2007, the same Italian researchers published a follow-up study that began exposing rats to aspartame in utero. This study found that aspartame caused leukemias/lymphomas and mammary (breast) cancer. It is likely that the new studies found problems that earlier company-sponsored studies did not because the Italian researchers monitored the rats for three years instead of two.

In a 2006 study, U.S. National Cancer Institute researchers studied a large number of adults 50 to 69 years of age over a five-year period. There was no evidence that aspartame posed any risk. However, the study was limited in three major regards: It did not involve truly elderly people (the rat studies monitored the rats until they died a natural death), the subjects had not consumed aspartame as children, and it was not a controlled study (the subjects provided only a rough estimate of their aspartame consumption, and people who consumed aspartame might have had other dietary or lifestyle differences that obscured the chemical's effects).

The bottom line is that lifelong consumption of aspartame probably increases the risk of cancer. People­especially young children­should not consume foods and beverages sweetened with aspartame, should switch to products sweetened with SUCRALOSE (Splenda), or should avoid all artificially sweetened foods. Two other artificial sweeteners, SACCHARIN and ACESULFAME-K, have also been linked to a risk of cancer

BUTYLATED HYDROXYANISOLE (BHA)
Antioxidant: Cereals, chewing gum, potato chips, vegetable oil.

BHA retards rancidity in fats, oils, and oil-containing foods. While some studies indicate it is safe, other studies demonstrate that it causes cancer in rats, mice, and hamsters. Those cancers are controversial because they occur in the forestomach, an organ that humans do not have. However, a chemical that causes cancer in at least one organ in three different species indicates that it might be carcinogenic in humans. That is why the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services considers BHA to be "reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen." Nevertheless, the Food and Drug Administration still permits BHA to be used in foods. This synthetic chemical can be replaced by safer chemicals (e.g., vitamin E), safer processes (e.g., packing foods under nitrogen instead of air), or can simply be left out (many brands of oily foods, such as potato chips, don't use any antioxidant).

CYCLAMATE
Artificial sweetener: Diet foods.

This controversial high-potency sweetener was used in the United States in diet foods until 1970, at which time it was banned. Animal studies indicated that it causes cancer. Now, based on animal studies, it (or a byproduct) is believed not to cause cancer directly, but to increase the potency of other carcinogens and to harm the testes.