What'S Wrong with Artificial Ingredients?

The Wall Street Journal reports that Frito-Lay will no longer use monosodium glutamate, FD&C Red 40, and more than thirty other artificial ingredients in any of its chips. ¹ The company intends to make half of its snacks sold in the US with only natural ingredients. The Guardian reports that Nestlé has removed all artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives—eighty additives—from all of its confectionary products. ² The company has already removed all artificial ingredients from its beverages; the Nestlé Crunch bar was the last to have its artificial flavorings replaced with natural ones. Kraft Foods is looking for a natural alternative to replace artificial colors Yellow 5 and 6 in its macaroni and cheese powders; ³ General Mills is looking for natural colorants for its baking products. ⁴ By producing more and more natural and organic products, the food industry is gradually responding to increasing public wariness about artificial ingredients. This is good news for consumers. We all know what it is like to struggle to pronounce the long, unfamiliar names on a label and wonder what exactly it is we are putting in our bodies. There seems to be something intuitively untoward, inappropriate, or wrong with eating too many artificial ingredients.