Allergy Care - Food Additives

The vast majority of foods we consume today contain additives. Additives can be natural or synthetically made and their are about 300 additives listed for UK use. There are 6 main groups:

Preservatives - Chemical preservatives are used to increase the shelf life of products by delaying the growth of bacteria and fungi.

Colourings - Colourings are used to make our food look attractive to eat. Many processed and pre-packed foods would not look at all appetising with the absence of colour.

Flavour Enhancers- These make our foods taste stronger and are often used in savoury products. For example monosodium glutamate to which some people are sensitive.

Antioxidants

Antioxidants prevent fatty foods from becoming rancid.

Stabilisers and Emulsifiers

Emulsifiers help to mix oil and water together whilst stabilisers help keep them together.

Sweeteners

These are mainly used in low calorie products, eg fizzy drinks, sugar substitutes.

There has been a great deal of interest in food additives over the past 20 years, mainly due to the changes in food labelling in the 1980's. Rather than just using generic terms on packing, each additive needs to be listed. Approved additives usually have the number 'E' and these have been approved by the EC (European Community).

It is extremely difficult to pinpoint the foods that may be affecting an individual's eczema. But, the general rule of thumb is to eat a diet based on fresh, home cooked food. When using processed or pre-prepared foods, check the labels for any particular additives you wish to avoid.

There are 11 azo colourings and 10 benzoate preservatives and these are the two groups of food additives believed to irritate eczema. The most commonly used additives are tartrazine E102, sunset yellow E110, armaranth E123 and ponceau E124.

 

Page updated: 2 May 2008