I’d need a lot more space to list out all the names on the naughty list but this list, while not exhaustive, is a good starting point if you want to know you are eating as well as you can for your health.
Bottom line: if you can’t pronounce the ingredient, it’s probably not something you want to put into your body! And if you don’t recognise something as ‘food’, chances are your body won’t either.
Top 10:
1) Artificial Dyes & brighteners
Blue 1, Caramel color, Red 3 (Erythrosine), Red 40, Titanium Dioxide, Yellow 5 (Tartrazine), Yellow 6.
2) Artificial flavors & enhancers
Autolysed yeast extract, hydrolysed protein, monosodium glutamate (MSG), “natural flavours.”
3) Artificial Sweeteners
Aspartame, sucralose, and saccharin are some of the main ones.
4) Sugars
There are many names for sugar, including glucose, fructose, sucrose, dextrose, maltose, honey, treacle, agave, fruit juice, lactose, isoglucose, dates dried fruit raisins/sultanas, grape concentrate.
5) Bleached flours
Or other processed flours.
6) Refined & Processed Oils
Rapeseed (aka canola) unless cold pressed, corn, partially hydrogenated oils, soybean.
7) Preservatives
BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole), BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene), calcium propionate, propylparaben, methylparaben, propyl gallate, sodium benzoate, potassium benzoate, sodium nitrate, sodium nitrite, sodium phosphate, TBHQ (tert-butylhydroquinone).
8) Thickeners & emulsifiers
Carrageenan, lecithin, gellan gum, cellulose gum, guar gum, monoglycerides, diglycerides.
9) Dough conditioners
Azodicarbonamide, calcium peroxide, DATEM (diacetyl tartaric acid esters of monoglycerides).
10) Processed food supplements
Soy protein isolate is a common highly-processed genetically modified protein supplement in many “healthy” or diet foods.