A leading nutritionist has issued a warning about a common ingredient found in many of the foods we consume daily. Emulsifiers, which are present in a wide variety of foods including ice cream, mayonnaise, and bread, could be harmful to us, according to Dr Federica Amati, chief nutritionist at Zoe.
She revealed on a Zoe podcast that these substances are found in “about 95% of baked goods like buns and croissants and breads in supermarkets”, reports Surrey Live.
However, Dr Amati cautioned that regular consumption of emulsifiers could disrupt our gut microbiome and potentially lead to higher levels of inflammation. She explained: “What we’re starting to see is that emulsifiers eaten every day in various types of foods actually do disrupt the gut microbiome and they can potentially lead to higher levels of inflammation.
She further added that this could contribute to an increased risk of illness, ranging from gastric symptoms such as IBS or indigestion, to more serious conditions down the line. “All of these things contribute to a higher risk of basically being unwell, whether that’s from the gastric symptoms, so having IBS or suffering with symptoms of indigestion, things like this. But further down the line, when you have increased inflammation in the gut for a long time, that’s when you run into a higher risk of things like developing obesity, type 2 diabetes, and of developing autoimmune conditions.”
What exactly are emulsifiers?
Emulsifiers are food additives that are added to a variety of products for reasons such as texture and shelf life. They play a crucial role in the food industry. They help blend foods that wouldn’t normally mix, like oil and water in a salad dressing or oil and vinegar in mayonnaise. Without emulsifiers, these elements would naturally separate in the jar or bottle. Emulsifiers can either be natural (derived from plants or animals) or synthetic (made from chemicals).
What foods contain emulsifiers?
You’ll find them in bread (to enhance volume, softness and shelf life), chocolate, ice cream, margarine, and processed meat, among other foods.
How can you tell if your food contains an emulsifier?
If you’re purchasing any of the above-mentioned foods from a supermarket or convenience store, there’s a high likelihood it contains emulsifiers. If a food does contain an emulsifier, it will be listed on the ingredients list on the packet.
Some common names for emulsifiers that you see in a lot of foods are:
Are emulsifiers harmful to us?
All foods consumed in the UK, USA and EU must be deemed safe by the relevant authority. So, any of the foods you buy in the supermarket, including those mentioned above, will have undergone this process.
However, Zoe states on its website: “Most relevant studies focus on cancer and genotoxicity – a compound’s ability to damage your genetic information. Other possible effects, like those on your gut or metabolic health, receive less attention.”
“It’s worth remembering that most of the studies below were conducted on animals or in a lab. So, we can’t assume that the results apply to us. Also, the researchers only investigated one emulsifier at a time, for relatively short periods. So, the results can’t help us understand the cumulative effects of consuming cocktails of emulsifiers daily over a lifetime.”
Zoe cited research which found that in mice “the emulsifier polysorbate-80 reduced the diversity of the small intestine’s microbiome”. The article continued: “Another study, also in mice, found that the emulsifier glycerol monolaurate caused an imbalance in the gut microbiome, as well as inflammation and metabolic syndrome.”
It also mentioned research concerning a specific emulsifier, carboxymethylcellulose, suggesting it “caused gut inflammation and an overgrowth of bacteria,” with the scientists behind the study positing that carboxymethylcellulose “is an ideal suspect to account for the rise of IBD in the 20th century”.
Meanwhile, Professor Kevin Whelan, a dietetics expert at King’s College London, informed the BBC: “As yet, we cannot say that people should avoid eating emulsifiers. They are contained in a wide range of foods, and some may have healthy nutritional properties. Therefore, in the meantime, most scientists, dietitians, and doctors would recommend that it is sensible to eat a diet that contains more unprocessed, natural plant foods.”