Harmful Chemicals That Lurks in Our Foods

By: Nurul Jannah Bte Ismail
Today, most of our foods that we buy contain many chemicals that can harm us. One of the most famous unhealthy foods that almost many of us love to consume is Macdonalds. Indeed, it is delicious, but what’s lurking inside these ingredients can actually harm our body in the long run. Hence, I’m going to talk about the harmful chemicals present in our foods.

1)      Monosodium Glutamate a.k.a MSG – This preservative is an excitotoxin that is found in almost any packaged foods. For example your favorite Maggie noodles, canned foods, crackers and even your frozen meats.

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  This food additive enhances your food and makes you think that your food tastes better. However in actual fact, it doesn’t have much taste at all. It tricks your taste buds into thinking that it tastes good. A research done by the Food and Drug Administration in an article here, tells us the side effects of MSG. 

-          Obesity

-          Chest Pain and Heart Palpitations

-          Headaches

-          Brain Damage

-          Nausea

2)     Trans Fat – These chemicals can be found in your fried foods ( and we all know how much we love fried foods) doughnuts, margarines even cookies and crackers. A research I’ve found in a Reader’s digest article here  said that trans fat are two times harmful to your heart compared to saturated fats. It’s  also the cause of “ an estimated 30,000 to 100,000 premature heart disease deaths each year.” Now that’s a lot of deaths and we should be more aware of what we eat from the packaging today.  

Here is a video on more information about Trans Fat.   

   3)    Artificial Sweeteners – This sweetener, more known as Aspartame or Nutrasweet and Equal can be found in the labels as ‘sugar free’ or ‘diet’. These can be found in your coke zero, desserts, chewable vitamins, chewing gum and even toothpaste! A study which was done by The Ramazzine Foundatio, a European cancer research centre. Read more here

-           Headaches

-          Cancer

-          Gaining of weight

-          Mental Disorders and Degeneration of brain cells


Indeed this chemical can make you addicted to it because of the sweetness. We all have been ‘victims’ of consuming this hidden chemical in our food. Who could resist eating sweets? Even me, I love sweet stuffs! However, if consumed too much, we could be harming our body with the symptoms that I have mentioned.

To learn more about Aspartame, here is a video about it.

Now that we all know what our foods actually contain, let me give a few tips or advises on how to reduce or avoid these chemicals.

1)      Go organic!

-  When grocery shopping, try to shop more for whole foods. Buy fresh fruits and vegetables from the supermarket. Buy wholemeal breads instead of white bread! Supermarkets have organic labels which can help you buy the right ingredients.

2)      Check the packaging labels properly

-   In some packaging, it may state ‘No MSG’. however, food labels are sometimes not true. The label yeast extract may seem harmless. But, most products contains MSG due to the presence of yeast extract. This is another way of how companies effectively hide the contents of their products sold on the shelves.

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3)    Try To Avoid Fast Food and Processed Foods

-     Although it is easier said than done, these ‘man made’ foods are often the culprits and by cutting down on them can help you lead to healthier eating habits. Instead, make your own meals which is healthier.



I hope this post is an eye opener to you. Do share your thoughts and drop a comment on the comment box!