Do we add preservatives to our spice mix?
We have chosen to avoid adding preservatives to our spice mix, for a number of reasons.
We are lucky enough to be able to grind, mix and blend our spices in small batches this allows us to deliver directly to our end consumer.
We have chosen health precautions over visual appeal, so we encourage our customers to shake their pack well before use and to not fear any clumps in the spice mix, these will come loose and will remain perfect for use. (the only downside of not using a chemical preservative)
We ask customers to please store all our products in a cool dry place and where possible in our packaging or an airtight container.
How we came to our decision, to not use chemical's to preserve our spices.
Chemicals that are used to preserve foods and spices are;
Benzoates (such as sodium benzoate)
Nitrites (such as sodium nitrite)
Sulphites (such as sulphur)
Sorbic Acid
BHA & BHT (Butylated Hydroxyanisole 320 (BHA) and Butylated Hydroxytoluene 321 (BHT))
What are the benefits of adding perseverates to our spice mixes?
Many packaged spices have been chemically treated and there are great advantages to this, to name but a few, a much better appearance, to stop the spice blend or mix from clumping.
So are preservatives safe and what are the side effects ?
Some’ research has found that preservatives interfere with our hormones, disrupting the process that tells us when we're full. They do that by distorting the chemical structure of those 'signalling' hormones. That disables the process by which hormones are transported out of cells, making them ineffective’.
Some artificial preservatives, such as nitrites or nitrates used in processed meats, have been shown to be bad for our health, Hnatiuk said. “Consuming these preservatives has been shown to increase our risk of colon cancer and should be limited in our diets,” she said.
BHA & BHT preservatives are ‘listed as “possibly carcinogenic to humans” by WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer as some studies show they can cause cancer in animals at high doses. Again, they’re added to processed pre-packaged foods, so it’s wise to avoid them nonetheless.’
Sulphates, these are the most commonly used in spices can trigger allergy-type symptoms and asthma attacks.
Food Standards Australia and New Zealand state that there is “a potential for excedances of the acceptable daily intake (ADI) for sulphites in some children who were high consumers of certain foods.” They have also identified some uncertainties about the current ADI and have acknowledged that further evaluation of acceptable levels is required."
Will adding preservatives mean that the spice will lose its medicinal value?
It appears that by adding the preservatives to your spices there will be a significant loss of nutritional value and natural enzymes the natural chemical composition of the spice itself may also change.
So what do you think, do you think that we made the correct decision by chosing health over appearance ? Let us know what you think ....