What Increases Shelf-life of Food, is Decreasing your Life-span

The World Health Organization has estimated that in 1995, 19.4 million individuals were affected by diabetes in India and these numbers are expected to increase to 57.2 million by the year 2025 i.e. one-sixth of the world total. Similarly studies estimate that the number of new patients diagnosed with End Stage Kidney Disease (ESKD) who are started on dialysis or transplantation is over 100,000 per year.

Have you ever wondered the chocolate/cheese in you fridge or snacks/sauce/breads in your pantry might increase your exposure to such diseases significantly. Well take a second look at the ingredients of eatable products all around you, the biscuit/chips in your hand have added preservatives in them.

Preservatives are added in food as supplements to increase shelf life of products and to stop bacterial or fungal growth in food items. FSSAI classifies preservatives in two categories:

Class 1 preservatives: There is no specific regulations for use of these, since they are considered less harmful as compared to other category. It includes preservatives such as salt, sugar, spices, vinegar, honey, etc.

Class 2 preservative: These are harmful for human consumption if beyond a certain limit. FSSAI regulates the maximum permissible limit for these ingredients for each individual product categories. Common preservatives includes Nitrates, Butylated Hydroxyanisole 320 (BHA), Butylated Hydroxytoluene 321 (BHT), and Monosodium glutamate (MSG) etc.

Foods with preservatives are more-processed, less-nutritious foods to begin with – not exactly health foods. So, even if you don’t mind preservatives, you probably should cut down on these kinds of foods, anyway. There are so many preservatives out there. While preservatives added to foods should be “approved” by Food Safety Standard, this doesn’t mean they’re guaranteed to be safe for everyone always. And it doesn’t mean that the food is healthy.

A person has a 14 percent higher risk of dying an early death with every 10 percent increase in the amount of ultra-processed food they eat, according to a study published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine. The study also found that 61 percent of an adult's diet comes from ultra-processed food. Much of the negative health outcomes from this diet come from the additives that seep into the food during its processing.

According to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, it has been found that these ultra processed foods with preservatives and added sugar, can lead to a higher risk of heart disease and even premature death! People in this category were 58 per cent more likely to die of cardiovascular diseases than their peers who consumed the least ultra processed food (not more than approximately one serving a day). They were also 52 per cent more likely to die of a stroke, or another type of cerebrovascular disease.

So, is it possible to avoid Class 2 preservatives? 

No way, just have a look around, any food item you see around have some form of preservatives included in them. 

Ok, then maybe we can switch to Class 1 preservatives and move towards organic foods instead of processed foods. Well, this is a good strategy, but remember that this does not guarantee no harmful effect of preservatives. The average Indian eats around 10 grams of salt per day, well over the recommended 1600 mg of sodium (equivalent to about 4 grams of salt) per day. Much of that is because it’s found in processed foods.

Well the most important question - we have FSSAI, FDA, and other regional food standard organisation with the sole purpose of ensuring the food products are safe for people with preservatives and other additives in limited quantities.

Definitely, we have these organisations, but can you trust the manufacturers?

Remember the Maggie controversy of 2015?

The company claimed that there is “No added MSG” in their products, while later the lab test showed that Maggie contain MSG in certain quantities. The company did not contest this claim and agreed to remove “No added MSG”. 

This makes one wonder, do companies stick to original ingredients when they got approvals from authorities? Maggie is no local brand, it is owned by Nestle, which is the top company in F&B industry.

So you can’t avoid preservatives in your food. The best thing is to have more of home cooked food and use fresh vegetables and fruits instead of frozen or preservatives.

Till then just believe in below traditional saying:

“Annam Brahma, raso Vishnu, pakto devo Maheshvarah,

Evam jnaktva, tu yo bhunkte, anna dosho na lipyate”

(The creative energy in the food is Brahma, the nourishing energy in the body is Vishnu, and the transformation of food into pure consciousness is Shiva. If you know this, then any impurities in the food you eat will never become part of you)