BBC Documentary on E numbers

[Arifa]

These are showing in series and only 2 have shown so far...

E numbers: colours


E numbers: preservatives

They are really interesting and make you more serious on checking ingredients so make sure you watch!

[Zebunissa]

Re: BBC Documentary on E numbers

When is it on next?

[Contemplating..]

Re: BBC Documentary on E numbers

:up: will watch later thanks.

[neelu]

Re: BBC Documentary on E numbers

I try to avoid all of them like the plague. I know it's inconvenient cos' most easy convenience foods with a long shelf life contain all sorts of rubbish but then again, nothing as good as eating things that are fresh anyway.

[Pippin1376]

Re: BBC Documentary on E numbers

:(

I wanna watch this.

[ze leetle elper]

Re: BBC Documentary on E numbers

I wasn't surprised to see coloruing used to make food look good, fresh etc because end of the day the customer buys on appearanc first, but other stuff like coluring being fed to fish so the flesh is pink (like it would be in the wild) was quite surprising!

[neelu]

Re: BBC Documentary on E numbers

Yeah I'd heard about salmon being fed colours but also chickens are fed (I presume artificial) colourings cos' otherwise their egg yolks wouldn't have much colour. I presume battery hens are fed artificial colours anyway cos' everything they get is cheap and artificial such as their feed and hormones.

[ze leetle elper]

Re: BBC Documentary on E numbers

Its amazing how you can see the difference n yolk color and also the texture of the egg as a whole (when you crack it) between battery hensand free range/ organic, its quite scary to think what must be going on with the poor birds to make such a significant difference to the chemicals involved in their bodies that produce the eggs!

[Arifa]

Re: BBC Documentary on E numbers

E Numbers: Sweeteners

new episode up

[Sirius]

Re: BBC Documentary on E numbers

I was particularly surprised to find that some E-numbers are in fact, naturally occurring substances.

[neelu]

Re: BBC Documentary on E numbers

I've not seen the whole E number series but I did watch the episode on preservatives and it was really food for thought (excuse the pun) as well as totally gross. I could see the case for certain naturally occurring E numbers to have their uses and the necessity of preserving certain foods to prevent the spread of disease BUT I'm still not comfortable with the idea that so many additives go into food that are grown in a lab and part of the problem with these preservatives is that it's taking us away from the whole original concept of buying things fresh.

Ironically, in fact I think it was the same day, that Oprah did a 'food 101' programme about food inc. That was all about going back to whole foods, natural fresh foods etc. i mean sure, cured meats are probably dangerous without preservatives, but the idea of lengthening the shelf life of breads and cakes which should be eaten within about 3 days often involves using hydrogenated fats, which are the worst kind of fats, far worse than butter or other saturated fats. I don't see the benefit of clogging the arteries for the sake of keeping a cake the same way for six months.

In light of that, whilst the E number programme convinced me that there may be a place for E numbers, particularly the naturally occuring ones, I still have my doubts about the benefit of them in general.