May 2010 Newsletter

Why do we need to add colouring to our food?
Almost all the food we buy today contains colouring,additives, preservatives etc, years ago salt was the main preservative and herbs were often used to do the same job.

A food colouring is any substance that is added to food to change or enhance its colour. They can be natural or synthetic, being derived from plants, herbs or insects. While some colourings are harmless to most, a few can can produce reactions in some people including the colorant blue that can make children very hyper active.

FD&C Blue No.2, commonly added to tablets and capsules; also used in ice cream, sweets, baked goods, confectionary, biscuits, synthetic coal tar derivative; may cause nausea, vomiting, high blood pressure, skin rashes, breathing problems and other allergic reactions.

Food colourings are used to make things appear more appetizing an example of this would be glace cherries without the red dye they would be brown.

As consumers we are partly responsible for the creation of this food culture, we demand our carrots to be clean and straight, our apples to be red and not bruised and so it goes on, food colourings are added so the consumer will buy the product regardless of quality or taste, many E numbers have now been banned in various countries due to many health issues associated with them. Would you buy grey mushy peas? Without tartrazine, or E102, mushy peas appear grey rather than green.

Tartazine is a yellow azo dye found in fruit squash, fruit cordial, coloured fizzy drinks, instant puddings, cake mixes, custard powder, soups, and sauces.

Mixed with E133 a blue dye it can be used to vary the colour green and is used to colour processed peas to give them that bright green look.

Many of these products are linked to health issues in children including asthma skin conditions.The common food colorants cochineal and carmine (carminic acid) are indeed made from Central and South American ground beetles. This type of beetle, Dactylopius coccus, lives in a cactus called the Opuntia and were used for centuries by the Aztecs and native Americans as a red dye, When I was a child my grandmother would make cakes and decorate them with red icing this was a food colouring with beetle blood it is banned in many countries but do check your labels.

So next time you pop out to buy some goodies check the labels and maybe buy natural products that use beetroot juice to colour sweets or really go for it and buy a wobbly carrot and show the supermarkets that we are not prepared to eat manufactured foods and we are happy to eat the not so perfect.

Paula is now running her Advance Psychic Protection course in Lapstone on the 16th and 17th of May. The course is designed for healers and people starting their spiritual journey, it is important to have the basics and the knowledge to deal with various energies that you will come across in your daily life.

Link to website

I would like to thank everyone that contributed to Noahs arch animal rescue and purchased a wand if anyone would like one please donate directly to them and I will send you one, proof of paypal will be needed please email me for more details.

http://www.noahsarcmurcia.com/

Please note I pay for p&p your donations go directly to the cause.

Paula