Issue Date: February 23, 2015 Web Date: February 19, 2015
General Mills To Remove Antioxidant BHT From Its Cereals
In the wake of a campaign by the controversial blogger Vani Hari, who goes by the name Food Babe, General Mills says it is removing the antioxidant butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) from its cereals.
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The action is the latest to be trumpeted by Hari, who is not a scientist but whose blogging about food additives has the ability to make big companies jump. Last year the Subway sandwich chain removed a dough conditioner, azodicarbonamide, from its breads after similar haranguing by Hari.
Many of America’s favorite cereal brands contain a dash of BHT, a synthetic antioxidant that prevents vegetable oils from going rancid. BHT may be added directly to cereal, though it is commonly added to the plastic or wax paper liner of the packaging. From there, it migrates into food.
“BHT is an FDA-approved food ingredient, but we’re already well down the path of removing it from our cereals. This change is not for safety reasons but because we think consumers will embrace it,” General Mills says. The company claims the move has been under way for more than a year and was not motivated by the petition that Hari launched on Feb 5. Hari also has called on Kellogg’s to remove BHT.
There is no scientific evidence that BHT is harmful in the amounts used in packaged food. Indeed, in small amounts, it may have anticancer effects similar to those provided by naturally occurring antioxidants. But studies of larger doses have shown mixed results. In some mouse and rat studies, BHT appeared to trigger cancer in the forestomach, an organ that humans don’t have.
BHT is approved for use in both the U.S. and Europe, but Hari points out that cereals marketed in Europe by General Mills and Kellogg’s do not contain the additive. Already, General Mills says, the Cheerios, Trix, Kix, and Lucky Charms it sells in the U.S. contain no BHT. Cheerios products, for example, rely on vitamin E, also called mixed tocopherols, to keep them fresh. Other label-friendly antioxidants available to cereal companies include vitamins A and C and extracts of rosemary and thyme.
- Chemical & Engineering News
- ISSN 0009-2347
- Copyright © American Chemical Society
I will give you a little hint,IT'S NOT YOU PAL.
Well, I understand chemistry, but also visit clinics where people thought they were eating healthy and all of a sudden their heart or kidneys started to malfunction. One of which was a police officer who built and trained like a bodybuilder before it happened. His 6pack was admired from what I heard. The outpouring of support was overwhelming. He also had a black belt in karate. Didn't drink or smoke. No history of kidney problems in the family. Ate salads every day. Didn't eat sweets. Even some of the chemicals in dressings are also fuel additives. Eating a salad or 2 a day with a salad dressing and still having kidney failure. He worked out, plenty. Hmmm...??? Luckily for him, one of his fellow officers was a kidney match. I can't say the same for the other people from different walks of life that were and still are active, but will now have to undergo a procedure to have the device placed in their arm for dialysis that I've talked to. Most of these chemicals are like any other drug, there can be an overdose side effect. But if you aren't told where the drugs are, then how can you limit the dose. What is the 1 dose? 1tsp? 1tbsp? 1oz? They aren't just in sugary foods. Don't fool yourself. OMY! I can't tell you how many people I talk that tell me they feel like they're being punished for being so judgmental of obese people. Or how upset the 25 year old was when she was told that even one cold cut at a popular sandwich shop which she loved to eat at everyday could have put her in complete renal failure because she was walking around that close and didn't know. She only drank sports drinks and water all her life and thought that was healthy because it wasn't soda. I think the parents should have known not be be given a child electrolyte drinks if they aren't low on electrolytes. I never drank Gatorade when I was growing up unless sick with the flu and hadn't eaten because of. Today, I don't think some parents think about it as more than just another drink at the machine. Try looking at the back of some healthy stuff sometimes. Condiments also. Mixed in with the longer words towards the end after all the easy on the eye words. Anything baked really. I am sure you know what the Mono, Di and Tri represent so I don't have to explain. Don't be surprised. Many of them have a no more than 1 dose per 24 hour period, as drugs that is. There are more than just a few. Before judging people who trust that a diet dressing is healthy on top of a plate of veggies, Please understand that people have had heart attacks at gyms and fitness facilities. I have talked with them also when they have their devices added. Especially in gym showers. When the body is in cool down mode. No matter how much one exercises, they can never achieve a cast iron kidney or heart. I do agree that we need to change eating habits in our country, but in reality, we have to look at the whole of things. Not point the finger at someone for believing what they see advertised. Some people need to believe the family environment that a restaurant brags about.They need somewhere to take them. They want to take Mama to a nice restaurant once in a while. Well, You have no idea what they buy or the ins and outs of preparation everywhere you've eaten.
I saw a video once of a lady screaming at a FF employee because she asked for fresh food. To me, nothing they could do to it would make it fresh. It came in on a truck from a warehouse after sitting somewhere else for however long. Really? But her thoughts on the subject were obviously different. I could blame her parents, but they probably had to compete with what her friends wanted to do and eat as she grew older. It's a large web. If you understand where I am coming from. In essence, I said all that to mean, once again, Fihi Ma Fihi (It is what it is). That was one ingredient in one product. Which is a milestone. But it is one of several milestones in an industry that donates in order to atone. Like so many others. I just don't like when children are the targets.
I'd rather see activism on cleaning up and stopping the damage of our oceans as they, the oceans, suck a lot of CO2 out of the atmosphere cleansing what we breathe, make it so we have water on land so we can eat, farm, and drink, and keep the weather "normal" which hasn't been the case for years, and finally, helps to keep temperatures normal for whatever area including desert, the arctics, temperate, sub-tropical, and tropical. Dr. Sylvia Earle said, "Without the blue there will be no green. Without the green there will be no us". We are extremely tied to the oceans. The water and salt content in our bodies is almost equivalent to that of the oceans. Sharks are our one greatest hope of finding a cure for cancer though few know about it. Sharks NEVER get cancer even when malignant cells have been transferred into their body or even, get this, when a tumor transplant has been done on them and they{the tumors} have been placed in various parts of the body including the brain and yet, every shark remained cancer free and the tumors die even after having "settled in". Now, that reason alone should be enough incentive to be an activist for the oceans especially when approximately 75 million shark are caught, have their fins removed, and dumped back into the ocean alive to painfully drown or bleed out....75 million a YEAR- goodbye cancer cure. Plus because of that, sharks are apex predators which means they help keep the ocean balanced. An unbalanced ocean is an ocean in deep trouble and therefore, so are we. So after knowing how important oceans are to our well being and there are few activists saying anything about that what do you think is more important- BHT or getting our oceans back to a healthy state? Eating clean green food, breathing clean air, having clean water, having a healthy land with normal weather and temperatures, and the medicines we need or BHT? In my opinion, if someone wants to be an activist or something why not that and green, organic foods? After all, we get a lot of foods and medicines from the ocean. BHT? Give me a break. That's nit picking in my book. Why not go for something that's really important? Like really jumping on the band wagon to save our world and our people. Thanks for reading. ~D~
Reminds me of all the people that believe that margarine is plastic because of a one molecule difference. Or the ones that swear up and down if you put hydrogen in something you're gonna die. Guess what sweetie....water is hydrogen and oxygen. Better stop drinking water, it's hydrogenated! H2 treated with Oxygen.
Before passing judgement and spreading misinformation take a few general science classes and some basic chemistry classes!
There is rather compelling evidence against BHT as well as that it isn't harmful. A valid concern may be that science can be biased based upon who is doing the research. I would have preferred for you to site resources that help support your thoughts that BHT is fine to consume. It is always good to have healthy debates about issues.
I will express a couple of my opinions related to your comment:
I agree with you that it is our responsibility as consumers to fact check and look at what we are eating. Although I don't believe a basic chemistry class is what you need but rather a health and nutrition class. I think you will find that wanting to be responsible for what goes into one's body is the very root of why so many are upset that the FDA seems to side with big business rather than individual rights to have food labeled.
My opinion of your argument is that it is weak. Here's why:
One, you didn't speak to your credentials or to your own personal research (It's hard to take you seriously about taking a basic class when we don't know if you've ever taken a basic class yourself.)
Two, despite your rather passionate feelings about the "Food Babe" expressing her opinion despite her clearly telling us that is all they are, you are in fact doing the very same thing you are criticizing.
Here's my critique: The difference between "Food Babe" and you is that you appear to be disguising yourself as an expert on the topic thus making your "opinion" superior to hers. Without those credentials I mentioned earlier, I have to believe you just didn't like her opinion and in fact you don't have any more research to support that opinion than she did to support hers.
A link to PubMed (NIH) on the topic. Mostly cosmetic commentary, but provides a short background on studies/results.
General Mills telling us about Cherrios all the time is starting to get old.
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