Their is a lot of controversy right now about the safety of some food aditives that are present in our food supply. A few of the major concerns are about the following: Preservatives, MSGs, Food Dyes and Fat Substitutes.

             Before judging what is safe and what is not we must establish a few things:.

             First of all, there is the question of dose. Some things may be extremely dangerous when consumed in large doses whereas the same substance consumed in a little dose poses no threat to our health. Then there is the question about how each and everyone of us reacts to certain chemicals. Not everyone reacts the same way to some chemicals. Someone can be extremely sensitive to a chemical and die if he/she consumes it. Someone elso would have no reaction what so ever to that same chemical. Each one of us reacts differently to some chemicals and we must take that into considerations when judging which chemical is safe and which one is not. We must also consider the risk-benefit factor of every food additive and the available scientific evidence if we are to judge how safe it is. We must understand that absolute safety is impossible for any food additive or other chemical.

             Microorganisms contaminate our food and that's the reason why we must use preservatives in order to keep our food (and also certain medications) fresher for a longer period of time. A lot of people are questionning the safety of some preservatives that are currently used in our food supply.

             Some people don't like the fact that there are chemical additives such as antimicrobial agents in their food. Antimicrobial agents inhibit yeasts, fungi, molds and bacteria. Antimocrobila agents keep bread, for example, fresh. Antimicrobial agents are not dangerous as food additives because they are naturally present in fruits and vegetables. They do not present any risk to our health. They don't consistute more than a mere 0.3% of the weight of the product, and at this concentration do not cause any harm.