The pack includes :
2 laminated shopping cards - that show nasty food chemicals/additives that have been added to our food. These are credit card size (printed on both sides), so they easily fit into your purse or wallet.
1 food and behaviour pamphlet.
6 page information guide/summary on additives - (3 pages front and back) including :
The best internet sites I have found,
A brief list of some symptoms (for some chemicals),
Testimonials,
Tricks that are used,
How you can help,
Not only foods.
(as you can imagine, if I incorporated everything it would be hundreds of pages long - so I have given the most shocking/useful/helpful
information I could find, as a guide - so it will be easy for you to look up further information).
How I started researching these chemical additives:
Because of my ill health - someone told me about the chemicals in food, after the initial disbelief that our government would allow chemicals in our food that would be detrimental to our health (I mean - what would be the point, you would need to spend more on health infrastructure and running costs).
I did the research and was astounded at some of the side effects and especially the long term effects. Those most at risk (in a general viewpoint) is children - because they are still developing.
Being enthused about what I had found, I made up some shopping cards for myself and proceeded to tell friends - to my surprise, people started requesting for me to make shopping cards for them.
Hence now, I thought I would try and reach as many people as possible, and make it easier to shop and avoid nasty additives J
My son and myself are much happier and healthier now.
The shopping cards are updated regularly - so hence I can't tell you the exact number of additives that should be avoided, but it is over 50.
If there is any way I can improve my listing, I would love to hear from you with your comments.
Some testimonials/information
282: Results of bread preservative (282) challenge (January 2000) - mother of two
You said you were interested to hear how our challenges went. Well, what can I say - they weren't fun times.
We challenged nitrates and amines and yes, my daughter does become irritable a day or two after eating foods containing these chemicals. Her mood only lasts around 24 - 48 hours and so this isn't too bad. I can tolerate this but as for the 282 bread challenge, I never want to see another slice of bread or crumpet or anything else that contains this preservative.
I felt cruel doing this challenge but as you say, we do need to know if she reacts to this preservative. I could see her mood slowly changing by the fifth day on the challenge and from then on it only got worse.
My food diary reads:
day 5 - cries easily
day 6 - cries easily, slightly cranky
day 7 - cries easily, sour faced (stopped challenge)
day 8 - angry, irritable, fighting with us and sibling
day 9 - foul mood
day 10 - terrible mood, irritable, cranky, easily angered
day 11 - mood still bad but improving
day 12 - bad mood, irritable, angry, stirring siblings
day 13 - irritability improving; still fires up but not as frequently
day 14 - mood much more pleasant
day 15 - pleasant child
The one good thing to come from this challenge was that it opened my husband's eyes up and he has now started reading labels and watches carefully what our children eat.
**** This is just 1 examples of stories amongst hundreds, sadly, I have focused on mainly children, but there are many stories even of adults having slight symptoms of lack of concentration and tiredness to many severe symptoms that have been life threatening - do not believe it is just children who are effected ******** you also will not believe what artificial sweetener 951 aspartame is capable of
To bring home how important it is to bring about change, here is in extract about bread preservative 282.
Bread preservative and the need for change
Manufacturers of Australia's two biggest selling brands of bread - Tip Top and Mighty Soft - are currently phasing out their use of the bread preservative calcium propionate (282) due to consumer concerns.
"Congratulations! wrote one dietitian. "The hard work has finally paid off! Consumer opinion wouldn't have swayed in this direction if it weren't for consumer awareness, which you have undoubtedly contributed to greatly". Since I have spent the last 15 years campaigning against the use of this additive, which I regard as the very worst of all additives, of course I am pleased, but there are wider implications of this action.
What has happened with the bread preservative is important because it shows that current medical thinking about food additives is wrong. The prevailing scientific model says that only a few children are affected by food additives so the greater good of the community is served the continued use of these additives. However, the move against the bread preservative shows that many more children are affected than authorities admit, and that the greater good of the community would be best served by the removal of harmful additives.
