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It's in you.

pointless and uncalled for

23:47 / 10.01.04

Inspired by the research I did for an answer in the Random Q & A thread I thought I would post here about food additives and those oft confusing E-numbers.

What are your opinions on E-numbers and how aware are you of the effects that they have on you? Do you pay much attention to what is on a label or are you comfortable in the knowledge that the manufacturers wouldn't hurt a hair on your consumerist head.

Sites for due consideration:

The Law
Vegetarianism
Effects

More from me when it's not so late it's early.

Tryphena Absent

00:56 / 11.01.04

I don't pay any attention to food anymore. A result of hydrogenated vegetable oil, BSE, genetically modified vegetables etc. etc. etc. To be perfectly honest with you I just couldn't give a shit. I know it's blase and pretty callous and it'll probably kill me but over-exposure to food press finally produced someone who knew so much about what she ate that she didn't care.

01:47 / 11.01.04

I know much less about this than Tryphena, but I share her opinions more vigorously.

02:47 / 11.01.04

What's an E-number? One confused american wants to know...

03:21 / 11.01.04

food additives.
flavourings and preservatives, that sort of thing.

there's one that makes the blue smarties blue thats banned in a scandinavian country... norway maybe.

so no blue smarties.

11:43 / 11.01.04

e-number - "the reference number (the "E number") and the English name of all those additives listed in the 3 specific directives"...so I'm taking that the UK has a label like the US, but now they have a listing of codes for specific additives ("major additive categories (colours, preservatives, etc)") to make your choice easier.

I don't buy canned boxed or otherwise packaged or prepared foods. there are exceptions, of course, like dried pasta, frozen pierogies (which I can't find made fresh nearby) and waffles (for my girl), the ever present jar of pickles and the canned tuna I always keep around in case I'm desperate (out of cat food). those things, no, I really don't know what's in them, but I know they're not good and staples in my house so I'll keep on eatin em.

the REASON I try to steer clear of prepared foods is that it's all either filled with salt and/or preservatives and very little actual food. I don't really need the label to tell me that. it's not that I'm some sort of health nut - just the opposite. but I do know that when I'm eating freshly prepared and homemade foods I generally feel less shit

but to answer your question, yes, I do read labels, and yes, the ingredient list and the labeled percentage of sodium and sugar affect my decision to buy. but no, I don't know much about specific preservatives and yes, I probably would pay more attention if I knew more about them.

18:54 / 11.01.04

Mr Spidermonkey is allergic to gluten so we have to read labels anyway, it's surprising how many things contain it!

We also say no every time to Aspartame which is again harder than you'd think as pretty much everything nowadays states "contains a source of phenylalanine".

See below for a not-at-all-sensationalist view on aspartame....

aspartamekills.com

Tryphena Absent

19:08 / 11.01.04

frozen pierogies (which I can't find made fresh nearby)

And damn time consuming to make yourself but if I ever come over to the States we should have a cooking day.

20:39 / 11.01.04

I don't care what's in food like that, although, it must be said, that I rarely to never eat stuff from boxes. I make things from scratch, not for the sake of healthiness, but because it justs tastes better, damnit!, and I really like to cook. My girlfriend is kind of a health nut, but has no idea how to cook anything that's not from a box, so she eats that stuff as long as it doesn't have too many calories or whatever in it, but she is starting to make me cook for her more and more often because I fucking own in the kitchen.

23:11 / 11.01.04

I eat about half-and-half fresh prepared and ready done. I have ready meals a lot cause Im the only veggie in my family bar my usually-absent sister, so making two or more lots of things is generally a pain in the bum. That said, I eat lots of pasta.

Most of the time I do look at labels to check theres no dead animal bits (although if I like something enough, I pretend I didnt see it to spare my guilt), and though I'd rather avoid too much crap in my food, it doesnt stop me eating anything. Other than diet Pringles, because they put it in such a revolting-sounding way; "may cause anal leakage." Like Tryph said, theres scares on every kind of food possible, and soon Im sure there'll be the revelation that lettuce causes cancer, so fuck it. Pot Noodles are us.

09:18 / 13.01.04

I'm vegetarian, but I'm useless at memorising what ingredients are vegetarian and what aren't, so I rely heavily on whether things are labelled as vegetarian. I also sometimes look at the Is it Veggie? website. I don't care at all about what other ingredients are in stuff.

My company recently sent out a Kosher guide to food, and I'm confused at how much of that woud apply to vegetarians, since most processed food that might contain meat type stuff probably woudn't be kosher? Like, if they said a popular brand of chocolate bar was kosher, would it be vegetarian also?