NOT the REAL THING

INSTEAD of real fruit, nuts and herbs, the processed food you buy could have the following chemicals as flavourings:

> Vanilla — Piperohal (a strong smelling benzene derivative used to kill lice)
> Strawberry — Benzyl acetate ( a nitrate-solvent used in making film-splicing cement)
> Pineapple — Ethyl acetate (used to clean leather and textiles)
> Banana — Amyl acetate (also used to clean leather and textiles)
> Raspberry — Ethyl butyrate (an aromatic chemical)
> Coffee, durian & jackfruit — Mercaptan (a strong smelling chemical)
> Nuts — Butyraldehyde, also known as butyl aldehyde (an ingredient in rubber cement)

ACCORDING to industry sources, about 100 different chemically-derived colours, flavours and aromas are used in everyday food products, mainly in the beverage and confectionery industries.
Popular foodstuffs like coconut milk, isotonic drinks, yoghurt, ice-cream, desserts, jellies, fruit puddings, mock vegetarian meats (eg: vegetarian sausages and meatballs), instant noodles, cordials, baked goods (eg: buns), condensed milk, biscuits, cakes, fizzy drinks and candies often contain such flavourings.

But although they are chemically flavoured, the names of the flavourings mentioned on the food product are often deceptive as they go by real-sounding names.

Some examples of ambiguous names for synthetic flavours are “sour plum flavour”, “yam flavour”, “orange flavour”, cherry-coke flavour”, “wild ginseng flavour”, “tutty-fruity flavour” and “peppermint flavour”

Excerpts from “AVOID CHEMICALS IN YOUR FOOD: Available here: https://consumer.org.my/pro…/avoid-chemicals-in-your-food/