Food Can Make You Ill Newsletter

Welcome to March's newsletter.
This newsletter can also be viewed online: www.foodcanmakeyouill.co.uk/newsletters/mar10.html

In the spotlight: Chocolate

The combination of sugar and fat, and a texture that 'snaps' and then melts in your mouth is unique to chocolate. Nothing else is quite like it and, depending on where we live, we eat between 10 and 21 pounds per person per year. Given that some people never eat chocolate (yes, they do exist) some of us are eating serious amounts.

Just what is it about chocolate that so fascinates and inspires us?

We eat it as a snack, a treat, give it as a present, dream about it, talk about it more than any other food, crave it, and we also feel guilty about it. It comes in different types and varieties and it is consumed across the world by people from all walks of life. The wrappers may be different but underneath each one is something we all recognise as chocolate.

Chocolate is a complex food product in that always contains a number of ingredients – if you think you have a problem with chocolate it really is worth checking that the problem isn’t one of the ingredients that can be avoided.

Chocolate has been criticised for being fattening and lacking in nutrients, responsible for tooth decay, acne and weight gain. It has also been praised for being an anti-depressant, an aphrodisiac, a source of essential minerals, such as magnesium, and stocked with health promoting anti-oxidants. Some people say it is good for us, other say it's bad.

Chocolate, Cocoa, and Health takes a close look at chocolate. What it is, how it is made, the ingredients and chemicals that make up chocolate and, most importantly, the health benefits and problems that have been linked with chocolate. Special attention is given to the issue of food allergy and intolerance and how this relates to cocoa and chocolate.

The facts are sorted from the myths to help you decide whether chocolate is a good or a bad guy in your diet. Find out more.

Sharla's Tips

Chocolate is one of those foods that it is very difficult to give up. Unfortunately, many people have an intolerance or an allergy to one of the ingredients in chocolate bars so it can be quite a challenge to find ‘safe’ chocolate.

The common ingredients I avoid in chocolate are milk, vanilla flavouring and soy lecithin. I’ve tried various bars over the years but currently am happy with Montezumas ‘Very Dark Bar’. Unfortunately their web site no longer allows you to buy single bars but other online shops do sell them. Dietary Needs Direct produce their own range of milk and soya free chocolate and these are often in fun shapes such as cars and animals that may appeal to children or any one young at heart (personally I find these a little too sweet). [See Links: Healthy Eating for online shops that sell to the UK.]

If you buy chocolate on line, and the company hasn’t listed the ingredients in full, do email them and ask for a full list of all ingredients before placing an order.

Research Update: Adverse Reactions to Food Additives

Randhawa and Bahna carried out a review on hypersensitivity reactions to food additives, diagnosis, and management. One of things they found is that there is little information available in the world of medical literature and speculate that this may be due to the difficulties with diagnosing problems with food additives. [It is my own experience of reviewing the literature – and I suspect that food additives as a cause of symptoms is rarely considered by most medical professionals.]

They recommend that food additives should be suspected as the culprit in individuals who report a history of reactions to a number of unrelated foods or to a certain food when commercially prepared but not when prepared at home.

In the News

Tea seed oil may replace cocoa butter in chocolates
Partial substitution of cocoa butter in confectionery products may be achieved with tea seed oil, a by-product of tea processing, says new research with the potential to help chocolate makers cut costs.

Predicting risk of reaction to cross-contact allergens
An incident in which a patient with allergy to cow's milk experienced a severe allergic reaction to a dark chocolate product that did not bear a milk allergen declaration prompted scientists in the Netherlands to investigate the extent to which allergen concentrations in unlabelled products reach levels that may cause public health problems.

Safety fears raised over carcinogen acetaldehyde in food
Latest research has raised concerns over the safety of foods containing the chemical acetaldehyde after it was declared to be a human carcinogen, said regulators in Finland.

Toxicity of methanol in food
The 'Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment' has produced a discussion paper dealing with the toxicity of methanol in food. Methanol is also present at low levels in a variety of foods notably fruits and vegetables where it is released from pectin as well as being present in a free form. It is also released following the breakdown of the sweetener aspartame. [The link is to a pdf file.]

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Visit the Food Can Make You Ill site for articles and information on food allergies and food intolerance.
Free Food Diary
Information on Salicylate Sensitivity

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Food Can Make You Ill
Your Complete Guide to Food Intolerance and Food Allergy
www.foodcanmakeyouill.co.uk