Drying, smoking, salting and freezing meat at low temperatures was a traditional method to increase its shelf life and quality. Today, there is more focus on new technologies such as high pressure processing, irradiation, sonication, cold plasma and others.

While plastics are cheap and offer versatile options to food packaging, studies show us that they also pose a significant threat to human health, such as impacting fertility, immune function, and causing obesity, cancer and development delays in children.

Chemical interactions between packaging and food products might pose potential health hazards, since chemicals from packaging can migrate into the food and be ingested.

Food additives that are approved for human consumption require safety analysis and regulatory approval. However, GRAS (Generally Recognised as Safe) substances are considered safe for consumption based on a history of common use in food or scientific evidence, or consensus among experts. Also, they are only tested on animals and not humans. Does this process perhaps need revising?

Some of the food additives that we can still find in New Zealand manufactured foods, have already been banned in other countries. This includes certain food colours and dyes, artificial sweeteners and flavouring agents. With a recent study saying that 69% of food products in our supermarkets are ultra-processed, there is a high probability that we are consuming these potentially harmful additives on a regular basis.

Plant-based products consist of plant ingredients, without any animal derived ingredients. Unlike a plant-based diet that consists of plant foods that have gone through minimal processing, plant-based products can contain 5-10% additives.

It is safe to say that advancements in the food industry, and the inclusion of food additives to many foods have helped world hunger, making food production cheaper and extending the shelf life of food. However, does the pursuit of making food cheaper to produce have an impact on our health?

Food additives improve food shelf life and appearance, increase food safety and in some instances also enhance the taste of food. Currently, there are several thousand food additives that are in use and over the last few decades, and quite recently as well, certain food additives have been banned due to concerns of adverse effects on human health.

Plant-based products, and especially plant-based meat alternatives, have oils added to meet the fat content that an animal product would naturally have. Due to their low cost, refined vegetable oils are mostly used, such as soybean, corn and canola oil. In the process of extraction chemical solvents are used and oil is often exposed to heat which causes oxidation and damage. So, how healthy are such foods really?

Food additives such as artificial food colours and intense sweeteners might be one of the causes of conditions such as gut permeability, IBS and hyperactivity in children. This means that it would be perhaps best to avoid them. However, with nearly 60% of foods found in a supermarket being processed or ultra-processed, this is rather difficult.

Food additives are chemical substances that are added to food to keep it fresh and enhance the colour, flavour or texture. Some are found in nature and wholefoods, however, food additives are regularly present in high amounts in processed foods. Also, some food additives are used more than others, posing questions about continuous exposure and long-term consumption.

Sugars are placed in most processed foods, and though some would think it’s because of enhancing flavor, texture or extending shelf life, the real fact is that sugar today is a very cheap ingredient. Because of this, it’s used excessively, which is seen in the current situation of our public health.