Additives & preservatives | The new dirty dozen

Download AppNewsCover StoryAdditives & preservatives | The new dirty dozen A host of harmful additives and preservatives hide behind seemingly healthy food labels and marketing claims Rashmi Mukherjee knew all the old villains—maida, excess sugar and trans fats—the familiar markers of food best kept to a minimum. So, chips and packaged biscuits disappeared from her 13-year-old’s diet, and in came granola bars, multigrain snacks, protein products and treats labelled ‘no added sugar’. That was until the 45-year-old boutique hotel manager in Gurugram began turning the packets over. Only to find words like maltodextrin, glucose-fructose syrup, protein isolates, emulsifiers, modified starches and unfamiliar sweeteners appear on foods she had assumed were the better choice. “I never thought I would have to read every ingredient on the back,” she says.