Antioxidants

Natural antioxidants, which delay rancidity, are lost during the factory processing of refined oils and fats. BHT and BHA are used to restore the anti oxidation qualities. Most of these added materials with antioxidant properties are known to be toxic and are also considered by some authorities as possible cancer inciters. At first they were used with fats, but later they were incorporated so extensively in other items that today you can scarcely find in your shopping basket any factory processed food or food packaging material that does not contain one or both of these chemicals.
Various experiments have demonstrated damaging effects of BHT in test animals, including metabolic stress, depression of the growth rate, loss of weight, damage to the liver, increase of serum cholesterol, baldness, foetal abnormalities. Both BHT and BHA have been demonstrated as harmful, and in sensitive individuals they produce more severe reactions. Consider the case of Mrs.X who had enjoyed excellent health and had been free of allergic reactions. Her food intake was mostly from sources known to her, and her meals were made largely from basic commodities that she prepared in her own kitchen.
After eating commercially processed instant mashed potatoes for the first time, she suffered severe reactions, with skin blisters and haemorrhaging in one eye. This processed food was the only newly introduced item in her environment. When she ate it again and the symptoms recurred, both her physician and ophthalmologist suspected BHA and BHT present in the instant mashed potatoes. They advised her to avoid foods containing these antioxidants. She did so and the symptoms subsided.
At a later date, her symptoms flared up again. This time they were traced to a breakfast cereal, never before used in her household, which contained BHT and BHA. Mrs.X became a concerned label reader and studiously tried to avoid foods containing these two additives. Again the symptoms returned. This time the problem was traced to shortening that Mrs. X had previously tolerated. Upon examining the label closely, Mrs.X was astonished to find that the shortening was labelled new and improved with BHT and BHA added.