What do you associate with poisonous? ⚠️?? The definition of poison is substances that in small quantities cause injury or death. Marriage is the topic of this week’s Folkeopplysningen on news. In connection with the episode, 1,000 Norwegians are asked which harmful substances and chemicals worry them the most. Here you have the top 3 list – and explanations of how worried you really should be. In addition, you will get answers to what presenter and physicist Andreas Wahl thinks you should actually steer clear of. E-substances ? At the top of Norwegians’ poison fear list, we find the substances that begin with e and are followed by three digits. If you take a look at the table of contents of a food item you have in the kitchen, you may come across several of these. In a random bag of wine gum you will find five e-substances. How many do you think there are in family ham? This ham contains thickeners, antioxidants and preservatives. Photo: Kirsti Kringstad / news There are seven different e-substances in such cold cuts. Different types of e-substances Colorants: Number 100 to 199 Preservatives: Number 200 to 299 Antioxidants: Number 300 to 399 Thickeners: Number 400 to 499 Other types of additives: Number 500 and above Sweeteners: From 950 Source: Allergiviten.no (naaf) E -substances are additives that the EU has approved for use in food. (The E stands for Europe). The substances are added to increase shelf life, replace sugar or give taste, consistency and colour. Some are completely natural. Like turmeric and vitamin C. Others are synthetic. Are e-substances in food dangerous? How concerned do you need to be? Not at all, according to Trine Husøy. She leads the specialist group for food additives in the Science Committee for Food and the Environment. – These are substances that have been very well studied and that are added to food on purpose. Therefore, there is very little cause for concern when it comes to e-drugs, says Husøy. The list of e-substances is regularly updated. This year it was banned to use e171 in food because it can be dangerous. E-171 is titanium dioxide. Can we trust that today’s list is safe? E-substances add color to snacks, for example. Photo: Kirsti Kringstad / news – We follow new studies that come out on the E-substances. Then we make new assessments. It is a process that goes on all the time, says Husøy. Pesticides ? And then there is talk of pesticides in fruit, berries and vegetables. It goes without saying that you should always rinse this thoroughly before putting it in your mouth. Why is it like that? It is not toxic pesticides that are the reason you should rinse fruit and vegetables before eating them. Photo: news/Teddy TV Are pesticides in food dangerous? How concerned do you need to be? Thorough rinsing is recommended because you must avoid ingesting bacteria and viruses that can cause vomiting and diarrhoea. The authorities have drawn up strict regulations around pesticides. The legal level is set based on the highest dose that has been given to animals in experiments without them suffering health damage. The maximum limit is then set to one hundredth of this – or lower. – So no, don’t be worried, urges section manager for chemical food safety in the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, Are Sletta. 99.9 percent of the toxins we get when we eat fruit and vegetables are toxins that come from the plants themselves. Cyanide in apple for example. Photo: Kirsti Kringstad / news Heavy metals ? Heavy metals are natural elements that have always been in nature. But what is in circulation of lead, cadmium and mercury originates almost exclusively from human emissions. You’ve probably heard that the ocean is full of heavy metals. That is true to an extent. They are found in the fish’s food. And thus in the fish. And then on our dinner table. This is something a part of us is anxious about. How concerned do you need to be about heavy metals? According to the experts, there are some people who are particularly vulnerable to heavy metals. Namely children and women of reproductive age, since the substances are stored in the body for a very long time and affect the development of the fetus and child. Large halibut of around 100 kilograms is an example of a fish that often has a lot of heavy metals in it. Through a long life, they have spent many years ingesting and storing the poisons. Because very strict rules have been introduced for the industry, emissions of heavy metals have fallen radically. A small, young halibut will therefore be cleaner than an old halibut. The industry also has strict rules for emissions of organic pollutants, i.e. synthetic ones. These break down, but it takes a long time. – The fatty seafood is the main source, explains Linda Hanssen, senior researcher for environmental chemistry at NILU. How often do you eat oily fish? Yum! So to speak every day At least once a week Maybe 1-2 times a month? Almost never Does not touch the dirt Show result She says children and people of childbearing age must not ingest too much of this. But that a little is not dangerous. Earlier this year, the Scientific Committee for Food and the Environment also determined in a report that Norwegians should eat more fish, even if this means that the amount of environmental toxins we ingest then exceeds the EU’s limit values. The Norwegian dietary advice is to eat 300–450 grams of clean fish a week, and that at least 200 grams of that should be fatty fish. Like salmon, trout, mackerel or herring. Photo: Kirsti Kringstad / news The dose is the poison All substances are poisonous, they say. It’s the quantity that matters. If you drink 10 liters of water in one go, you’re going to miss out. Also 250 grams of salt in one gulp means certain death. But what about cyanide? The drug can kill you in minutes, but how little is perfectly fine? Andreas Wahl shows you: Here is Wahl’s top 5 list of the substances he thinks you should watch out for. 1. Tobacco ? – The toxins that lead to absolutely the most illness and death are toxins that we put into our bodies voluntarily – even though we know it’s dangerous, he says. You’ve heard it before; cigarettes contain a whole arsenal of toxins, including heavy metals. If you smoke, the risk of lung cancer, other lung and heart diseases, strokes, diabetes and so on and so on is significantly increased… According to Wahl, there is no poison you should stay away from: – If you smoke, even if it is quite little, other sources of poison become a puzzle in comparison. 2. Alcohol ? – Our sun-clear favorite poison! says Wahl. As with water, salt and cyanide, it is the quantity that determines how dangerous alcohol is. But even a glass or two a day appears to increase the risk of several types of cancer. And birth defects, liver disease and stroke. Okay, maybe you weren’t terribly surprised by the first two items on Wahl’s poison list. Read on: 3. Fear of poison ? Wahl simply asks you to lower your shoulders, because the fear of poison in itself can be bad for your health. – There is not much hidden poison in your everyday life, he states. 4. Seagull eggs ? Seagull eggs have sky-high levels of dioxins and PCBs. If you eat 1.5 eggs, you have exceeded what you can tolerate of dioxins and PCBs for a year, according to the Institute of Public Health. 5. Brown crab meat ? This food contains a large amount of cadmium. This heavy metal accumulates in the body and can primarily cause kidney damage. In addition, in large quantities it can possibly increase the risk of osteoporosis and lung cancer. Andreas Wahl’s poison list contains 14 poison sources. Curious about which ones? See Folkeopplysningen in news TV: 7/9: In an earlier version of this case, it was stated that you had to eat 10 seagull eggs to pass the tolerance limit. The correct number, calculated on the basis of EFSA’s latest limit values from 2018, is approximately 1.5 gull eggs per year. news apologizes for the error.
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What is toxic? Are e-substances in food dangerous? Are pesticides in food dangerous? – news Trøndelag
