We are getting incredible feedback from our customers about Ayala's Herbal Water. One of the things people keep thanking us for is the "zero artificial, zero preservative" feature, which is in our core philosophy.
Reading and understanding the labels of processed food can be quite a challenge. When I look at a food label, I am suspicious of any ingredient that does not sound like a recognizable food. Different additives might be necessary and safe. Others are completely unnecessary, and not only do not add to your health, but may be unsafe, especially if used often.
Substances may be added to food during processing for different reasons. They may be added to help the consistency and texture, to improve the nutritional value, preserve and stabilize the food, or for color and flavor.
Artificial food colors and other food additives have long been suggested by parents and educators to negatively affect behavior in children. The evidence though, was inconclusive.
A recent paper published in the Lancet (Lancet. 370(9598):1560-7, 2007 Nov 3) warns that children in general, and not just those suffering from ADD and ADHD, can become more impulsive, inattentive and hyperactive from the cocktail of artificial extras found in drinks, sweets and processed foods. (See report of this paper in the NY Times
In this well designed, randomized, placebo controlled double blind study, scientists at Southampton University recorded the responses of 153 three-year-olds and 144 eight to nine-year-olds to various drinks and found that artificial food color and additives were having "deleterious effects". In a six-week trial, the researchers gave the children drinks with additives (artificial colors and sodium benzoate) that mimicked commercially available drinks. A control group was given an additive-free placebo drink that looked and tasted the same. The diet was otherwise controlled to be additive free. The children’s behavior was evaluated for inattention and hyperactivity by parents, teachers, and through a computer test for the 8/9 year olds. Neither the researchers nor the subject knew which drink any of the children had consumed. The researchers discovered that children in both age groups were significantly more hyperactive, and that they had shorter attention spans, if they had consumed the drink containing the additives. The study could not differentiate the effect of food color from that of the preservative. The authors conclude that food additives exacerbate hyperactive behavior in children at least into middle school. These behaviors are associated with educational difficulties. They comment that although the use of food coloring might seem superfluous, the same cannot be said of sodium benzoate, which has preservative action. For a useful resource about additives look at: http://www.cspinet.org/reports/chemcuisine.htm Ayala