Food Police

Gotta love em! Food police. That’s my term for those self-appointed, knowledge-challenged, “experts” on food safety. Do a search on the internet and you’ll find them blogging everywhere. One such is the “Food Babe”. Her subtitle is “HOT ON THE TRAIL TO INVESTIGATE WHAT’S REALLY IN YOUR FOOD.” One of her blog titles reads: “Chemical Warfare with ‘Natural Flavor’”.¹ In it she strongly disparages artificial and natural flavors in commercially-prepared food. Her readers serve up glowing approvals and “atta-girls” in the comments section. Her subject article vilifies Givaudan – “a company founded in Switzerland that is responsible for overloading the American food supply with ‘flavor’”. “Big Food Companies are “hijacking” [our] taste buds one by one.” She actually accuses the flavor industry of “using chemical warfare to slowly kill us one by one.” Makes perfect business sense to me – kill off all your customers.

Food Babe’s is just one example of many crying wolf about natural flavors, and horror-of-horrors, artificial flavors.² “10 Modern “Foods” That Are Killing Us Slowly” indicts half my daily food supply.³ Oh, and it’s not just bloggers. Entire books have been written about it. “Toxic Food Nation: Why The American Diet is Killing Us and What We Can Do About It” can be had for a mere $31.95.⁴ “Toxic food is now the new tobacco,” it claims. The article “’You still eat bread?’ How to get the food police off your back”, published in the Seattle Times, offers a good counter-point.⁵

According to Food Babe, both natural and artificial flavors are “manufactured” to make food taste better. The irresistible flavors so produced are the bait which “tricks” us into eating the poison. The truth is that natural flavors, to be labeled as such, by law must be extracted from naturally-occurring foods. Artificial flavors are synthesized but are identical in chemistry to natural flavors. A molecule (and for you chemists, I use the term molecule loosely) of a natural flavor compound and molecule of its artificial equivalent have the same atoms organized into the same structure. But Food Babe is right about one thing. Both natural and artificial flavors are toxic. Some are extremely so.

I stumbled across the food police topic in researching the flavor industry – not to make warfare on them, but in pursuit of a wheat flavoring to use in making gluten-free bread taste more like “real” bread, that is, wheat-based bread. One of my findings would particularly shatter Food Babe’s innocent-as-a-babe paranoid, fact-devoid world. I discovered a loaf of natural, whole wheat bread contains many deadly toxins! Any bread does.

That’s crazy, right? But it’s true. The toxins are chemicals known as volatile organic compounds. They are the substances which provide the wonderful, fresh-baked bread flavor that pervades the kitchen when baking fresh bread. These toxins are not added at the bakeries. They are in every grain of wheat as it grows in the fields, or are otherwise produced naturally from the wheat by the baking process. They are the “natural” flavorings which the food police assail.

Studies have been done by researchers to identify the naturally-occurring flavor components of wheat bread. One such was “Volatile Flavor Components of Breads Made from Hard Red Winter Wheat and Hard White Winter Wheat'”, published in January 4, 1995.⁶ (Unlike the “just believe me” and “everybody knows…” food police, this article contains references supporting my assertions.)  Using dynamic headspace sampling, gas chromatography, and mass spectrometry, they identified 63 volatile organic components in wheat. Here’s the list.

Heptane, Octane + 2-methylpropanal, 1-Heptene, Butanal, Ethyl acetate, 3-Methylbutanal, Ethanol, 2,3-Butanediol + Pentanal, Decane, Chloroform + tetrachloroethylene, 2,3-pentanedione, Dimethyldisulfide, Hexanal, Isobutanol, Isoamyl acetate, 1,2-Dimethylbenzene, 1-Butanol, 1-Penten-3-ol, Heptanal, 2-pentylfuran, Ethyl hexanoate, 3-Methyl-l-butanol, I-Pentanol, Trimethylbenzene, Methylpyrazine, Octanal, 2-Octanone, 3-Hydroxy-2-butanone (acetoin), 2,3-Octanedione, 2-Heptenal, (E) or (Z), 2,5-Dimethylpyrazine, 2,6-Dimethylpyrazine, Ethylpyrazine, 2,3-Dimethylpyrazine, 2-Hydroxy-2-methyl-propanal, 1-Hexanol, Dimethyltrisulfide, 1,2-diethoxyethane, 2-Hexen-l-ol, (Z) or (E), Nonanal, 2-Ethyl-3-methylpyrazine, 2-Butoxyethanol, 3-Octen-2-one, (E), Ethyl octanoate, 1-Octen-3-ol, 1-Heptanol, 2-Furfural, 2-Ethyl-l-hexanol, Decanal, 1-Nitrohexane, 1-(2-Furanyl)ethanone, I H-Pyrrole, Benzaldehyde, 2-Nonenal, (E)-, 2,3-Butanediol, 1-Octanol, 5-Methyl-2-furfural, Dihydro-2(3H)-furanone (-butyrolactone), 2-Furanmethanol (furfuryl alcohol), 2-Phenylethyl acetate, N-Furfuryl pyrrole, Benzeneethanol (2-Phenylethanol)

Think about that chemical soup the next time you take a bite of a delicious, freshly-baked dinner roll. This list has been verified by other researchers using different methods.⁷ Many, if not all of these compounds, can be purchased from flavoring chemical suppliers. Since these are naturally-occurring, they can’t be toxic, right?

Wrong. Of these 63 compounds, one of the most prevalent in bread is ethanol. That’s drinking alcohol. The United Nations maintains a list of all hazardous chemicals. The list is published as the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS).⁸ GHS lists ethanol as a category H07 toxic chemical with these hazard warnings:

Acute toxicity (oral, dermal, inhalation), category 4

Skin irritation, category 2

Eye irritation, category 2

Skin sensitization, category 1

Specific Target Organ Toxicity – Single exposure, category 3

Handling requirements for 99.5% pure alcohol (200 proof) include personal protective equipment: “Eyeshields, Faceshields, full-face respirator (US), Gloves, multi-purpose combination respirator cartridge (US), type ABEK (EN14387) respirator filter”.⁹ And we all know that alcohol is fatal if consumed in sufficient amounts over a finite period of time.

The most prevalent flavor component in bread is 3-Methyl-1-butanol, also known as isoamyl alcohol. Isoamyl alcohol is also one of the main aroma/flavor constituents in bananas. In its pure form, it has greater listed health hazards than ethanol.¹⁰ Laboratories which handle it must use explosion-proof electrical/ ventilating/ lighting/ equipment. It is toxic in rats at 5,000 PPM. That’s equivalent to 0.5%. It doesn’t even have to be ingested. It can kill just from inhalation or skin contact in sufficient concentration. Food Babe would exclamatorily report this fact as “Bananas can and will kill us!”

Dihydro-2(3H)-furanone, another naturally-occurring bread ingredient, is used as a recreational intoxicant with effects similar to barbiturates. It is naturally present in some wines. It is also used as a cleaning solvent. There have been news reports of several deaths associated with it.¹¹

Most, if not all, of the naturally-occurring flavor components of bread have GHS toxicity warnings. And it’s not just bread. All fruits and vegetables have them too. We can’t avoid eating food containing toxic chemicals.¹² Even water is toxic to a life-threatening degree if ingested in sufficient concentration. Ah, concentration! That’s a very important concept, among many, which eludes the food police. The flavor components of unadulterated food products occur only in miniscule quantities - well below the exposure levels required to have any health effects. The human senses of taste and smell are amazingly sensitive, able to detect some chemicals which even the most sensitive laboratory-grade equipment are unable to detect. And that is why the toxic substances found in all foods can impart enjoyable aromas and flavors without killing us, or affecting our health adversely in any way. This is God’s creation the food police are livid about. We should be thankful that God gave us the wonderful abilities to taste and the foods which stimulate those senses to bring us pleasure.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has classified food additives for their safety in food. The classification is called “Generally Recognized as Safe.”¹³ It is commonly abbreviated as GRAS. Laboratory studies, field experience and observation of naturally-occurring substances in foods are involved in maintaining the list. While not 100%, this list goes a long way toward ensuring safe food supplies. At the risk of causing Food Babe a heart attack, here is the FDA’s complete list of additives “Generally Recognized as Safe.”

Code of Federal Regulations - Title 21, Chapter I, Subchapter B, Part 182

In conclusion, whether flavors are “natural” or “artificial” flavors added by the food preparation process or whether they are present in food naturally, there is no difference in their potential to cause harm. At the concentrations in food, most flavors are non-toxic and in fact are very safe. Chemicals which are known to be harmful are not approved as food additives.

Finally, as a bonus, here is a short, fun video clip which shows how taste really involves all our senses, including smell, touch and even our hearing.

NOVA: Can I Eat That?| The Science of Flavor

References:

1. Food Babe, HOT ON THE TRAIL TO INVESTIGATE WHAT’S REALLY IN YOUR FOOD
https://foodbabe.com/chemical-warfare-with-natural-flavor/

2. Don’t Waste the Crumbs, 14 Facts the Organic Industry Doesn’t Want You to Know
https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/2015/03/14-facts-the-organic-industry-doesnt-want-you-to-know/
The 6 Most Horrifying Lies The Food Industry is Feeding You
http://www.cracked.com/article_19433_the-6-most-horrifying-lies-food-industry-feeding-you.html
Food Renegade, THE SECRET INGREDIENT IN YOUR ORANGE JUICE
https://www.foodrenegade.com/secret-ingredient-your-orange-juice/

3. 10 Modern “Foods” That Are Killing Us Slowly
https://www.thealternativedaily.com/modern-foods-that-are-killing-us/

4. Toxic Food Nation: Why The American Diet is Killing Us and What We Can Do About It https://www.amazon.com/Toxic-Food-Nation-American-Killing/dp/1478775351

5. You still eat bread?’ How to get the food police off your back https://www.seattletimes.com/life/wellness/you-still-eat-bread-how-to-get-the-food-police-off-your-back/

6. Volatile Flavor Components of Breads Made from Hard Red Winter Wheat and Hard White Winter Wheat, CHUN-YEN CHANG,2 LARRY M. SEITZ,3 and EDGAR CHAMBERS IV2b, January 4, 1995
http://www.aaccnet.org/publications/cc/backissues/1995/documents/72_237.pdf

7.  VON SYDOW, E., and ANJOU, K. 1969. The aroma of rye crispbread. Lebensm. Wiss. u. Technol. 2:15
MULDERS, E. J., TEN NOEVER DE BRAUW, M. C., and VAN STRATEN, S. 1972b. The odor of white bread. II. Identification of components in pentane-ether extracts. Z. Lebensm. Unters. Forsch. 150:305
RICHARD-MOLARD, D., NAGO, M. C., and DRAPRON, R. 1979. Influence of the breadmaking method on French bread flavor. Baker's Dig. 53(3):34
FOLKES, D. J., and GRAMSHAW, J. W. 1981. The flavor and volatiles of white bread crust. Prog. Food Nutr. Sci. 5:369
SCHIEBERLE, P., and GROSCH, W. 1985. Identification of the volatile flavour compounds of wheat bread crust-Comparison with rye bread crust. Z Lebensm. Unters. Forsch. 180:474

8. Intro to the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS)
http://www.chemsafetypro.com/UN_GHS_Chemicals_GHS_for_Dummies.html

9. Safety Data Sheet for ethanol
https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/MSDS/MSDS/DisplayMSDSPage.do?country=US&language=en&productNumber=362808&brand=ALDRICH&PageToGoToURL=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sigmaaldrich.com%2Fcatalog%2Fproduct%2Faldrich%2F362808%3Flang%3Den

10.Safety Data Sheet for isoamyl alcohol
https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/MSDS/MSDS/DisplayMSDSPage.do?country=US&language=en&productNumber=W205702&brand=ALDRICH&PageToGoToURL=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sigmaaldrich.com%2Fcatalog%2Fproduct%2Faldrich%2Fw205702%3Flang%3Den

11.Dihydro-2(3H)-furanone
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma-Butyrolactone

12.Handbook of Fruit and Vegetable Flavors
http://priede.bf.lu.lv/grozs/AuguFiziologijas/Augu_resursu_biologija/gramatas/Handbook%20of%20Fruit%20and%20Vegetable%20Flavors.pdf

13.Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS)
https://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/GRAS/