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to lactose, from yeast to salt etc.
According to a 2014 marketing
survey, by Market Insights Innova,
“free-from” foods are experiencing
a real boom. Much of this success is
due to the retail sales of gluten-free
products that, by themselves, now
account for about 50% of this sector,
although most of the population is not
actually celiac. But we see some more
demonised ingredients / substances
even though they are widespread
throughout the food industry:
- Food Additives: these are substances
deliberately added to foodstuffs during
preparation, storage, etc. with the aim
of performing certain “technological”
functions such as colouring, sweetening
etc. They are classified into three large
groups: those that help to preserve the
freshness of the food (e.g.: antioxidants
that prevent rancidity, preservatives that
slow down microbial growth), those
that improve the sensory characteristics
of foods (dyes, thickeners, emulsifiers,
sweeteners, etc.) and those used to
facilitate the processing of foodstuffs
(such as adjuvants: anti-foaming and
anti-caking agents). Additives are now
present in almost all foods, and they
reign especially in pre-cooked/ready-
made foods. Only foods in their natural
state, such as olive oil, are deprived of
them. They must be indicated on the
label of the respective product and,
those authorised at European level,
are marked with the acronym E (from
100 to 199 are dyes, from 200 to 299
are preservatives, from 300 to 399 are
antioxidants and acidity correctors, from
400 to 499 are stabilizers/thickeners/
emulsifiers, from 600 to 699 flavor
enhancers, from 900 to 999 various).
Even if authorized, it is right to know
that some of them may cause annoying
symptoms such as monosodium
glutamate, used as a flavour enhancer
(main ingredient of stock cubes), often
associated with nausea and severe
headache.
I personally believe that, in the long
term, some of them may become
a danger to our health, especially
because more and more people
are using ready/packed foods, thus
exposing themselves to high daily
concentrations of additives. For
example, nitrites and nitrates, widely
used as antimicrobials, antiseptics and
are useful to preserve the colour and
taste of preserved and cured meats, are
potentially carcinogenic; in particular,
nitrites can be transformed into
highly carcinogenic nitrosamines and
associated with the onset of digestive
tract tumours, especially gastric cancer.
- Gluten: heavily demonised and
not only by celiacs, is a lipoprotein
substance present in various cereals
including wheat, spelt, barley, rye.
Widely diffused in the food industry as
a basis for seitan, used as a substitute
for meat in the vegan/vegetarian diet
for its protein content, as a thickener in
tablet formulations or tablets of certain
medications etc. it also gives viscosity,
elasticity and cohesion to dough.
In celiacs, its ingestion leads to
inflammatory problems in the
intestinal villi in addition to abnormal
immune reactions.
The success of gluten free
The only real gluten-free cereals
are millet, buckwheat, amaranth
and quinoa. Today, there is a strong
increase in non-celiac gluten allergies,
perhaps because gluten is present in
many products. The most frequent
symptoms are: headache, muscular
pain, asthenia, nausea, intestinal
irritation with abdominal swelling and
bowel disorders. For this reason, more
and more people use gluten-free foods.
- Lactose: this is a sugar normally
present in the milk of mammals and
which, today, is widely used in the food
industry as an additive for colouring,
sweetening, compacting, solidifying
and then added during the preparation
of various foods such as salami,
gnocchi, sauces, puddings, bread
and baked goods in general, soups,
sweets and drugs. Yet more and more
people, discovering themselves lactose
intolerant, are looking for products
that do not contain it because treated
with lactase that hydrolyses lactose in
glucose and galactose, making the food
more digestible. (lactose intolerance
is actually due to the absence of the
lactase enzyme, and manifests with
various gastrointestinal symptoms,
fatigue, muscular pain, headache, etc.).
- Lard: foodstuff of animal origin
obtained from melting the fat of pig
adipose tissue. It is commonly used
in catering, for example for frying
dishes, for various types of dough,
in baking (used in piadine, brioches,
pizza, cannoli, taralli etc.). In the food
industry it is valuable as it increases
the volume of the dough and makes
the mass of gluten more brittle, gives
flavour and fragrance, slows down the
loss of humidity and we can also find it
as a basis for sauces, condiments, and
in hams (in this case suet is used, the
adrenal adipose tissue of the pig, added
during the maturation in order to slow
the drying and prevent rancidity). Being
largely widespread and present in many
foods of normal daily consumption, it
can in the long run become harmful to
our health as it is rich in saturated fats
associated with cardiovascular risk.
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* Dr. Barbara Panterna is a medical
surgeon with Post-graduate
specialisation in human nutrition
obtained at the State University of
Milan. She is active in food education
and geriatrics and a teacher/trainer
for the Lombardy region in first aid
and microbiology courses. She is the
author of several articles of medical/
scientific character and novels
available on Amazon books.
She recently published though
Passi Editore: Stories of Ordinary
Gynaecology, distributed in Italy by
Bayer Pharmaceutical. She carries out
her medical activity in Milan as a private
practice.
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MAGAZINE