10 - Sunday, Jane 18, 1989 - Lynn Valley Echo

Food additives are there for a reason

IT’S NO longer ma’ and pa growing food for the family.
Ready-to-eat. meals, immense distances between farms and
kitchens and an astounding number of food choices are
blatant signs that times have changed.

Now a variety of substances are
added to make foods more conve-
nient, less susceptible to spoilage,
and of higher quality after storage.

We complain that food pro-
cessors add things to our diet we
don’t want, while forgetting that
consumer demand determines the
production of even unhealthy
foods.

Some additives make preparing
foods easier. For instance, dough
couditioners improve the baking
qualities of flour. Natural aging
takes time, and doesn’t always

produce consistent results. Condi-

Foned doughs are less sticky, mix

together quickly and result in bet-

* ter texture, volume and grain in
bakery products.

Additives help sale pour — even
when it’s raining.

They may be added to baking
powder so it won't absorb
moisture from the air and react in
its container, instead of in our
biscuits.

Freservatives help keep bread
fresh. Antitoxidants in margarines
prevent fat from going rancid.
Ethyl alcohol is a carrier solvent
for vanilia and other flavorings.
Stabilizers such as carrageenan and
guar gum, keep ice cream smooth.
And humectants keep § mar-
shmatlows, shredded coconut and
sausage casings from drying out.

Other food additives, such as
nitrites used in the curing process
of many meats, cause controversy.

Photo Nell Lucente

JOHN CUDDEFORD, his ‘wife Joo Ling and son Matthew have recently
moved to North Vancouver. Cuddeford, the assistant pastor at Hillside
Baptist Church, was ordained on June 4.

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Their inclusion is not solely for
improving color and flavor, but
also because nitrites combat the
growth of botulism’ spores.
Botulism is among the deadliest of
poisons. In this case, the use of
additives is a trade-off of health
concerns.

Skepticism about additives often

escalates through hearsay. Many
people believe that hamburger is
colored to look redder and fresher
on market counters. This is. not
allowed in Canada.

Ail food additives must serve a
useful purpose. Their inclusion in
food is controlled by government
regulation. They cannot be in-

HILLSIDE BAPTIST

Ass’t pastor ordained

MEETING THE needs of a society that is becoming in-
creasingly ‘relativistic’? is an important goal to Hillside

Baptist Assistant Pastor John Cuddeford, who was ordain-—

ed on June 4.

“Many people feel they have
been set adrift in a society whose
values are increasingly subjective,”
Cuddeford has noticed.

Although in his past two years at
Hillside, he has found Lynn Valley
to be a closer community than
larger cities such as Vancouver, he
sees a need for the church to
become a part of that community.

*““We want to impact the com-
munity with the ‘values we have
found important — the gospel and

BAY CITY
REALTY INC.
986-437:

the good news about Jesus
Christ,’’ says Cuddeford.

It’s something he has worked
towards as assistant pastor, with a
program for single mothers and
one. for youth which includes

camps and Bible studies.

Cuddeford’s life wasn’t always -

pointed in this direction, however.

troduced
manufacturing process, or to
deceive consumers about quality.

Each of us must decide the kinds
of risks we are willing to accept for
the foods we select. As consumers,
we have a choice.

Become informed about ad-
ditives in order to sift facts from
fiction. Write to the Health Pro-
tection Branch, Natidnal Health
and Welfare, for the latest infor-
mation. Accurate knowledge is the
basis for exercising one’s cight to
choose. -

Read labels carefully. Additives,
by law, must be included in the in-
gredients listed on most
prepackaged foods. If you feel
strongly about certain additives
buy food at stores which don’t use
them. Buy fewer fast-foods, more
fresh ones.

Food additives aren’t new. But
there are more of them, because
today our lives are different.

Graduating from UBC with a
degree in zoology, Vancouver-born
Cuddeford worked at the Universi-
ty of Alberta for several years.

But three years with a voluntary
missionary group in Holland and
Belgium inspired him to take on
four years of religious studies at
UBC's Regent College.

He accomplished this by work-
ing part-time as a. gardener and
with the support of his wife Joo-
Ling, a financial analyst to whom
he has been married for five years.

“She has the money sense that -

perhaps I don’t,’’ Cuddeford says
of his wife.

Cuddeford recently moved with
his family to North Vancouver.

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