Bad Food Additives

Alarming results as study shows supermarket cakes contain over 25 additives.

Wednesday, 15 April 2009 15:27

An investigation by Choice into cakes purchased from supermarketers has discovered many contain in excess of 25 additives and some of the most expensive brands are among the worst offenders.

Choice tested nearly 100 cakes.The worst offenders were Woolworths Bakehouse Sponge Iced and Fresh-Filled Cream cake which had 27 additives. Top Taste Rollettes Choc and Woolworths Bakehouse Sponge Single Birthday Fresh Cream each had 26 additives each.

“Most people wouldn’t use 40 ingredients when baking a cake at home yet that’s what we found in a large number of these cakes, with some of the worst examples containing more than 20 additives,” Choice spokeswoman, Elise Davidson, said.

Food additives enhance a food’s appearance but they also enable manufacturers to use cheaper ingredients such as apples instead of raspberries in jam filling and palm oil instead of butter, according to Choice.

More than half the cakes also contained some of the "Southampton Six" food colours which have been linked to increasing hyperactivity and temper tantrums in children. The UK FSA has recommended to the British Government that these additves be banned from production by the end of 2009.

However, Food Standards Australia & New Zealand (FSANZ) contend that the intake of these particular additives and colours by the average child is not at high enough levels to warrant concern and parents should read the labels and use their own descretion if they don't want their children to consume them.

“Consumers expect the cakes they buy to be fresh and to maintain that freshness, so food manufacturers use additives, but we think consumers should be aware of the type of ingredients that go into a lot of these cakes,” Ms Davidson added.