News Flash: 4 Food Additives Banned

🍭 4 Food Additives Banned in California

A new law in California that bans 4 common food additives will go into effect at the beginning of 2027.

That may seem far off, but here’s what we can all take away from this right now:

1️⃣ The banned additives are Red Dye No. 3 (in candy canes and other candies), Brominated Vegetable Oil (a flavor stabilizer in sodas), Potassium Bromate (a leavening agent), and Propylparaben (a preservative).

2️⃣ The additives are banned because of research raising concerns about cancer, reproductive issues, and neurobehavioral problems—particularly in children.

3️⃣ These additives are already banned in the European Union and many other countries.

There was one other additive initially on the list: titanium dioxide. That one is banned in the E.U. because of concerns that it can damage DNA.

Where do you stand?

Are you concerned about food additives or no?

Reference

California Food Safety Act [link]

Artificial Sweeteners: Yes or No?

The truth about artificial sweeteners ⬇️

In case you haven’t heard, there was this huge study run by Harvard School of Public Health of more than 30,000 middle-aged female nurses in the US called the Nurses Health Study II.

The women submitted info about their eating habits every 4 years for 15 years.

One finding was that women who ate more processed foods were more likely to develop depression, but now…

A more detailed analysis looked at specific components of their diets and found the only thing significantly associated with a greater risk of depression….

Was artificial sweeteners ❌

This study does not prove causation (it only shows association), but my question is this:

Is it worth the risk?

Reference

Samuthpongtorn C, Nguyen LH, Okereke OI, et al. Consumption of Ultraprocessed Food and Risk of Depression. JAMA Netw Open. 2023;6(9):e2334770. [link]