Can you tell me more about processing and food additives?
Laura's Lean Beef uses no additives in our fresh beef.
Close to 3000 chemical substances (additives) are added to foods as preservatives, dyes, flavorings, fillers, binders, and tenderizers. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) along with the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS, a division of the United States Department of Agriculture) regulate what is considered a food additive. Additives are never permanently approved by the FDA and FSIS, but are constantly being reevaluated for their safety as scientific data becomes available.
Most of the research on additives has focused on carcinogenicity or allergy/intolerance issues. The issue of individual sensitivity to food is not well documented, nor do we have a good sense of how much of the general public suffers from sensitivities. It is not clear whether the adverse effects of food additives are cumulative, and whether reactions increase or decrease with age.
Some lean meat products contain additives, such as hydrolyzed proteins, to tenderize and flavor them. Pork and beef processors are now injecting fresh meat products with water, salt, and sodium phosphate to enhance tenderness and retain moisture content.
Laura's Lean Beef does not use food additives of any kind in our fresh beef. In our fully cooked entrees, we use only natural ingredients. If you have questions about the ingredients in our products, please contact our Customer Service Division at customers@llbcorp.com.
For Additional Reading on Additives
Boyle, C. 1999. Digesting MSG: How to Break it Down, San Francisco Chronicle (April 14).
Formanek Jr, R. Food Allergies: When Food Becomes the Enemy. FDA Consumer (July-August 2001).
Hattan, David G. and Linda S. Kahl. Current developments in food additive toxicology in the USA Toxicology (181-182): 417-420, 2002.
Luetzow, Manfred. Harmonization of exposure assessment for food chemicals: the international perspective. Toxicology Letters (140-141): 419-425, 2003.
Meadows, M. FDA Consumer Magazine. MSG: A Common Flavor Enhancer (Jan-Feb 2003).
Millstone, E. 1997. Adverse Reactions to food additives: The extent and severity of the problem, Journal of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine 7-4 (Dec.):323.
Sicherman, A. 1999. Tidbits: Water-injected pork, Minneapolis Star and Tribune (April 29).
21CFR172.170 Food additives permitted for direct addition to food for human consumption: sodium nitrate. Code of Federal Regulations Title 21, Volume 3 (Revised as of April 1, 2003).
1999. Chemical Cuisine, Nutrition Action Healthletter 26-2 (March):4.
1995. Debate over MSG's safety reignited, Tufts University Diet and Nutrition Letter v13n9 (Nov.):6.
