Chemical Additives in Your Food

Ever feel like you need a PhD in chemistry to decipher the list of ingredients on a box of crackers?

Here's a link to definitions of the top 15 chemical additives used in our food to help you understand what you're really eating. A few things may surprise you:

• 1-METHYLCYCLOPROPENE - This gas is pumped into crates of apples to stop them from producing ethylene, the natural hormone that ripens fruit.
• ASTAXANTHIN - Producers feed farm-raised salmon this substance (made from coal tar) to give the fish a nice pink appearance.
• CANTHAXANTHIN - Egg yolks don't always come out golden yellow, so producers use this pigment to make them more palatable.

What's a shopper to do? One strategy to is re-think your choice if the list of ingredients contains more than 5-6 items which read more like something produced in a chemistry lab than something you would want to eat.