This article explains all you need to know about artificial food additives, including their safety, uses, and potential health risks, as well as helpful tips to reduce your intake if that’s important to you.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ensures that all food additives on the market are safe for use. Still, you may wonder whether you’re better off limiting your intake of these ingredients.
As their name suggests, artificial food additives are synthetic ingredients added to food to enhance its color or flavor, extend its shelf life, or improve it in some way.
Artificial food additives can be controversial, but they aren’t as scary as they may sound.
Artificial food additives are synthetic ingredients added to food to enhance its appearance, texture, taste, shelf life, freshness, and nutrition. They’re found in many foods, such as breads, baked goods, yogurts, salad dressings, chips, and beverages.
Finally, food manufacturers may choose to use artificial food additives, as they are usually lower in cost than natural food additives ( 1 ).
A food may also have artificial additives to improve its nutritional composition. For example, synthetic ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and folic acid (a synthetic form of folate) are commonly added to foods because they’re more stable than their natural counterparts ( 1 , 3 , 4 ).
Many food products contain emulsifiers, stabilizers, or thickeners to improve the quality of the product. These additives help bind ingredients, such as oil and water, to produce a more uniform texture and appearance ( 3 ).
Unless a food is completely unprocessed, such as an apple, be sure to read the label if you’re concerned about any food additives.
In fact, many foods on grocery store shelves contain either natural or artificial food additives in some form. Some foods may contain emulsifiers, while others may contain sweeteners or food colorings ( 1 , 2 ).
Artificial food additives are found in many popular foods, such as yogurts, breads, salad dressings, sodas, baked goods, chips, protein bars, and other processed foods .
Both natural and artificial food additives must meet strict regulatory and safety guidelines to be approved for use in food ( 1 ).
For the most part, direct food additives are the focus of concern for consumers. These can be further categorized into the following two categories ( 1 ):
The FDA uses the following two categories of food additives ( 1 ):
Artificial food additives are synthetic ingredients, meaning they are not naturally derived, added to food to enhance its appearance, texture, taste, and freshness ( 1 ).
Despite the strict safety protocols that artificial food additives undergo, consumers may worry about these ingredients’ long-term health effects.
To date, there’s little evidence that artificial food additives approved for use by the FDA harm your gut health or digestion (5).
That said, the increase in gut disorders, such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), Crohn’s disease, and gut dysbiosis, along with the rise of highly processed foods, has led many to wonder whether there is a connection between gut health and artificial food additives (6).
Some preliminary research in mice suggests that the consumption of artificial sweeteners may lower gut bacteria diversity and theoretically lead to digestive issues — though no research directly ties artificial food additives to poor gut health in humans (6, 7, 8).
Keep in mind that the human microbiome greatly differs from animals, which may lead to differences in how artificial sweeteners are metabolized.
As well, most of these studies are not well controlled and use significantly higher doses than those the average human would consume. Therefore, more research is needed.
Also, some mice studies have shown that polysorbate 80 (an emulsifier) and titanium dioxide (a food coloring) may lead to alterations in gut microbiome diversity. Particularly, the increase in sulfate-reducing bacteria may exacerbate IBS symptoms (6, 8, 9, 10).
However, it’s unknown if these effects apply to humans, who have different digestive systems than mice. Long-term human studies are needed to fully understand artificial food additives’ effects on human health (6, 7, 11).
If you believe you may be sensitive to certain food additives, it’s best to work with a healthcare professional who specializes in digestive disorders.
Artificial sweeteners are popular food additives, but while some use them as a solution to a high sugar diet, others believe they may do more harm than good.
Also known as nonnutritive sweeteners, artificial sweeteners contain zero calories but add sweetness to food and beverages. Popular varieties include aspartame, acesulfame K, saccharin, and sucralose.
Despite containing zero calories, it’s thought that artificial sweeteners may contribute to weight gain by altering the gut microbiome, leading to changes in metabolism and hormone regulation (12, 13).
However, most artificial sweeteners do not reach the lower intestine where the gut microbiome exists. Therefore, it’s unlikely that artificial sweeteners would change the gut microbiome, and no studies have shown that artificial sweeteners cause weight gain (12, 13).
In fact, one study found no difference in gut bacteria colonies when human users consumed a normal amount (within the acceptable daily intake recommendations) of artificial sweeteners (13).
Additionally, some theorize that artificial sweeteners may not signal the release of hunger-regulating hormones in the same manner as sugar, leading to increased hunger and food intake (14).
That said, associations are not the same as cause and effect. In many cases, other confounding factors (e.g., total dietary intake, history of dieting, and physical activity) can also influence weight gain or weight loss.
Additionally, results can vary depending on the study design and which external factors are controlled. Because of these variations, there has been a great deal of conflicting research.
For example, a number of cross-sectional human studies show a dose-dependent association between artificial sweetener intake and body mass index (BMI), yet numerous clinical trials and meta-analyses have shown artificial sweeteners may aid weight loss (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20).
Additionally, a recent meta-analysis in the British Medical Journal showed no relationship between artificial sweetener consumption and BMI. The authors concluded that higher quality, long-term studies are needed (21).
All in all, continued research is warranted.
Some artificial food additives may be associated with a higher risk of certain types of cancer.
In particular, a diet high in nitrites and nitrates, which are commonly found in processed meats, has been linked to an increased risk of colorectal cancer (22).
In 2015, the World Health Organization classified processed meat as carcinogenic to humans due to increased research showing a dose-dependent relationship between processed meat consumption and colorectal cancer risk (22).
Bisphenol A (BPA), an additive commonly found in food packaging, has also been linked to an increased risk of cancer and endocrine disruption. Though now banned in baby products, it can still be found in some water bottles, cans, and other packaging (23, 24, 25, 26).
Limited research directly connects other food additives to an increased risk of cancer. However, a highly processed diet is associated with a higher risk of cancer overall, though it’s unclear whether food additives play a role in this (27).
The most effective strategies for reducing your cancer risk include avoiding smoking, limiting your alcohol consumption, maintaining a healthy body weight, staying active, and following a nutritious diet high in fiber, fruits, and vegetables (28, 29, 30).
Some consumers wonder whether certain artificial food additives, such as food colorings, lead to hyperactivity, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children.
Artificial food colorings and flavorings are used to enhance the look and taste of many food products, especially those catered to children. Though natural options exist, artificial colors and flavors are usually used due to their vibrancy and low cost.
Though many groups and diets, such as the Feingold diet, claim that artificial food additives cause behavioral issues or neurodevelopmental disorders in children, little research supports this (31, 32, 33, 34).
However, BPA is an endocrine disruptor that may lead to developmental issues in growing infants. As such, it has been banned in baby bottles, sippy cups, and packages containing infant formulas. Look for products that say “BPA-free” on the label (35).
SummaryMost artificial food additives are safe for adults and children to consume. Those that have been shown to harm human health are banned or strictly regulated by the FDA.
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