Poison our children?

After my eldest son was diagnosed with ADD and I refused the medication offered to him as I knew how harmful it is I looked into changing his diet, up until this point I thought I had been doing my best for my children, feeding them what I thought were healthy foods,until I looked into all the hidden nasties in the foods that are dumbing down society and affecting our children.

Carrageenan in most ice creams, known adverse effects include gastrointestinal ulcers (but it is also used to treat ulcers in humans) liver damage, effects on the immune system and it is suspected to cause cancer.

I was horrified to discover that most fruit juice/squash drinks contain Sodium benzoate, plus other nasties.
Checking it on the UK food guide for additives it says:

Used as a preservative, both antibacterial and anti fungal but effective in only slightly acid environments. Also used as an antiseptic, as a food preservative and to disguise the taste of poor quality food.
People who suffer from asthma, aspirin sensitivity or the skin disease urticaria may have allergic reactions and/or find their symptoms become worse following consumption of benzoic acid, particularly in combination with tartrazine (E102).
Not recommended for consumption by children.

How is it OK for drinks makers such as Ocean spray, Sainsbury’s, Robinson's and Tesco’s to have this in our children's drinks?

I also found sodium metabisulphite in some bread and sausages. Preservative.
May cause allergic reactions, particularly skin irritation, gastric irritation and asthma. Not recommended for consumption by children
Only 3 companies I know have a type of sausage that this is not in, that's Marks and Spencer and Helen Browning, and another local farm.

Another shocker is Hula hoops- they say on the packet no additives etc but if you check on the ingredients they contain potassium chloride, that's the same stuff they use in the lethal injection in America!! I emailed them and they said they use it as a salt replacement and at very small levels, I worked it out that if a small child ate 17 packets of crisps that is the equivalent to a lethal dose.

Following on about bad stuff in food I thought I would share the list for you to watch out for.
Heres a list off the UK food guide, these are not suitable/harmful to children:
Preservatives:
E210 Benzoic acid
E211 Sodium benzoate
E212 Potassium benzoate
E213 Calcium benzoate
E214 Ethyl 4-hydroxybenzoate
E215 Ethyl 4-hydroxybenzoate sodium salt
E216 Propyl 4-hydroxybenzoate
E217 Propyl 4-hydroxybenzoate sodium salt
E218 Methyl 4- hydroxybenzoate
E219 Methyl 4- hydroxybenzoate sodium salt
E220 Sulphur dioxide
E221 Sodium sulphite
E222 Sodium hydrogen sulphite
E223 Sodium metabisulphite
E224 Pottasium metabisulphite
E226 Calcium sulphite
E227 Calcium hydrogen sulphite
E230 Biphenyl
E231 2-Hydroxybiphenyl
E232 Sodium biphenyl-2-yl oxide
E233 2-(Thiazol-4-yl) benzimidazole
E239 Hexamine
E249 Potassium nitrite
E250 Sodium nitrite
E251 Sodium nitrate
E252 Potassium nitrate

Colours:
E102 Tartrazine
E104 Quinoline Yellow
E107 Yellow 2G
E110 Sunset Yellow
E120 Cochineal
E122 Carmoisine
E123 Amaranth
E124 Ponceau 4R
E127 Erythrosine
E128 Red 2G
E129 Allura Red
E131 Patent Blue V
E132 Indigo Carmine
E133 Brilliant Blue FCF
E142 Green S
E151 Black PN
E154 Brown FK
E162 Beetroot Red; Betanin: No adverse effects are known but should be avoided by babies and young children as it contains nitrates- this is found in Muller little stars fromage frais strawberry flavour.

I know this isn't an extensive list and it is being updated all the time, companies are becoming more aware of the fact that consumers are waking up to the crap in food and some companies have changed since we started out on our food journey a couple of years ago. Some others I'm sad to say have become more devious and don't label there ingredients with E numbers and instead use the full name which unless aware you wouldn't have a clue.

Lots of you already know this info and have great diets, some of you are vegetarian, vegan, raw foodies etc but I thought I would share it just in case someone else out there didn't know and it can help them to become a better consumer.

If you have any questions or you want me to send you the complete list just ask.