Chemicals in our food

I have 2 main hobbies, one is communism (& the persuit of wealth), the other is food safety.

I like chemistry, but did not persue it further, because... the application to university requires me to write a 2 pdf-pages long text on chemistry... (I regret not writing that now, it would have been so easy to do...)

Anyway, I am pretty concerned about food additives, pesticides and growth enhancers, because while these technically need approval by governmental food safety,it is not hidden that companies have used every public disinformation in the book, including bribing 'scientists' and politicians, extending lawsuits the longest possible and silencing critics. (Think cocaine, meat industry & pesticides)

Is there anywhere to inform myself about this issue (best case open to everyone thus nonpartisan), are bio products really "bad" chemical free and what chemicals are really in my food?

I have waited a long time to make this post, because I always wanted to first 'inform' myself and write about how we should not take ANY food with xy in it. But researching topics never ends and I could never really find any consistent source...

I do not care if a food "may" contain chemicals that "may" contribute to deseases, I just want to avoid these. And large discounters just want to keep their prices the lowest possible, they do not care about stuff like this.

Yes they lie to us. But what can we do?
At the end of the day, even if you eat super healthy, or like a king*, you can still die.

• a bit like King Henry the First, who may have died of a simple indigestion after consuming an excessive amount of eels

Chemicals are presumed harmless until proven harmful. That is why banned chemicals get replaced by new ones.
"what chemicals are really in my food?" * In most modern countries it is imperative to list this on the label. Most chemicals are required to have a Safety Data Sheet that lists the hazards.

@ronin3b said ^

Yes they lie to us. But what can we do?
At the end of the day, even if you eat super healthy, or like a king*, you can still die.

I am not going down without a fight. A second lived longer is a second doing what I love most. And I do not want that taken away from me because some rich company owner wanted to make a few cents more.

@tpr said ^

Chemicals are presumed harmless until proven harmful. That is why banned chemicals get replaced by new ones.
"what chemicals are really in my food?" * In most modern countries it is imperative to list this on the label. Most chemicals are required to have a Safety Data Sheet that lists the hazards.

Yes, this is what I had in mind. That companies just change the chemical composition slightly and all research needs to restart.

This is humanity actively shortening life of other humans.
As for the labels, I do not see any label on apples grown by fertilizers, growth enhancers or pesticides.
No labels are on meat regarding the additives of drugs inside animal's food.

The boxes that do exist are mostly written like "contains a,b,c,food colouring,sesam cernals,natural citrusaromatics,g,h,i,..." . How should my untrained eye catch if one of these substances are currently being 'tested' for harmful sideeffects? So where to inform myself about stuff like this?

@anonymous_III even if you "became informed about stuff like this", there is a problem - assuming that what is printed on a label is 100% truthful! And even if by some miracle it did correspond to what the producer of the food put in, in good faith, we are talking about macroscopically large amounts of organic food. Have you seen that show Breaking Bad? In the episode The Fly, Walter frets because they have an apparently insignificant contamination... Or that movie The Hulk with Ed Norton, where he barely manages to halt the production line because a drop of his blood may have contaminated one of the drinks...

Ehh I misread the topic as checkmates in our food Lol

@anonymous_III said ^

Is there anywhere to inform myself about this issue (best case open to everyone thus nonpartisan), are bio products really "bad" chemical free and what chemicals are really in my food?

It depends on several factors. First, if you want a guarantee, visit a local organic/bio farmer and visit the farm, you'll see if they use certain products or not. Some natural or mineral fertilizers are used in organic farming, copper sulfate, for example.

Some, prefer permaculture, although this production method is uncommon and incompatible with the market.

Secondly, for exotic products, like tea or coffee, guarantees are harder to verify. Since these plants require different or fewer natural inputs to prevent disease, and depending on the country, it's not uncommon that pesticides are used, at least due to forgetting the regulations. But in such cases, and if there's an excess of pesticides compared to the specifications and what is authorized, the stock is reported and ordered to be destroyed.

Buying tea or coffee from little brands can be a guarantee about the respect of fair trade and also the respect of the rules regarding production

"any label on apples grown by fertilizers, growth enhancers or pesticides."

• That is right, you depend on regulations that forbid use of some of these.

"No labels are on meat regarding the additives of drugs inside animal's food."

• That is right, you depend on regulations and veterinary check before slaughter.

"How should my untrained eye catch if one of these substances are currently being 'tested'"

• All substances have codes on the label, and these are listed. If a substance is allowed in your country and forbidden in another country, then that tells it is suspect.

Comparing EU and USA standards for "chemical" additives in foods, agricultural chemicals or food (or food chain) safety in general may be a good start.
Don't forget that even water is an "inorganic chemical compound".
I don't want to get further into this topic but there must be lots of great public sources because this field is legally regulated a lot.

Here is a list
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_number
You see the same additive can be approved, restricted, and banned in different countries.