Candies! Butterfingers, Crunch, Baby Ruth, Kit Kat and Wonka - they are all products of Nestle - a worldwide candy and "food giant". Nestle owns over 2000 popular brands. Some of them that are being sold in the US are going to get a makeover - for the better.
Yesterday, Nestle USA announced that they would be removing artificial flavors and FDA-certified colors like Red 40 and Yellow 5 from all of their chocolate products! It also announced that it will stop using artificial vanillin and instead switch to natural vanilla flavor.
Nestle will be changing their recipes for about 250 different chocolates and hope to make this change by the middle of next year. They also plan to remove caramel coloring from the chocolates.
What exactly are these artificial food dyes and flavors and why are they being removed?
Artificial food dyes are what give those Skittles and M&Ms their bright, appealing color. You can also find them in unusual places like yogurts - the bright blue and pink colors in Yoplait (Trix) for instance. However, artificial colors are not only found in brightly colored foods, they are even in white icing, Doritos, Whole Wheat Pizza bases, Mac & Cheese and so much more...
Artificial food dyes are man-made mixtures of chemicals made from petroleum which is a crude oil product - the same stuff that is used to fuels cars or even tar the roads!
Artificial flavors make a lemon jellybean (which is basically a sack of sugar) taste like a lemon or a root beer candy taste like root beer, without a spot of lemon or root beer in them! They are flavored with mixtures of chemicals that create a smell, taste and feel that mirror the actual flavor. So though you may be eating strawberry yogurt, it may not have even a smidgen of actual strawberries. It could be flavored and scented in such a way, you think it has strawberries in it.
It may shock you to know that chemists at places like International Flavor and Fragrances (IFF) have a team of chemists who specialize in making these chemicals and food dyes. They test their products on the public to perfect it. Tried any pink or red colored foods and drinks? Next time check the label. If the red color is from an additive called "carmine", it comes from the abdomen of a bug. Red beetles are immersed in hot water, exposed to heat, dried and ground up to make things look cherry and strawberry.
A health hazard
Artificial food dyes and flavors are known to cause many health issues especially in children. Kids tend to become hyperactive and aggressive after a while of concentrated consumption of chemical filled foods. And though we try to stay away from the looming terrors of dyes we can't escape them. They can be found in almost all processed foods. Did you know that food additives are 30 times the amount found in processed foods in 1980?
When Nestle surveyed its consumers, they deduced that the majority of Americans were worried about artificial flavors and wanted less of the additives. But another disturbing fact is that Nestle has removed artificial flavors and colors from their products in other countries. The question is, how come it took them so long to do it in the US?
The good news is that Nestle is one of the first companies to make the change to a safer option. Hopefully this will spur the attitudes and practices of its competitors like Kraft, General Mills, Mars, etc. We just have to wait and see.
So think twice before picking up a pack of gummy worms or M&M's, or even better, spread this awareness to others and help them stay out of the health hazard trap of artificial additives in food.
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