Your tips for avoiding food additives - Failsafe etc

There has been a bit of discussion in some recent threads about additives and preservatives in food so I thought I would start a specific thread for those interested and for those "experts" out there to help us newbies.

I have decided to avoid the bad additives and preservatives as much as I possibly can especially 160B (Annatto) because of my DD headbutting floors, walls in a rage over nothing, not to mention throwing herself around her cot in the middle of the night.

There are also some foods out there that contain natural substances that can affect beahaviour and mood, for my DD these are grapes which contain MSG naturally in them.

I have the failsafe cookbook but my biggest struggle is snacks for my DD, especially quick options and ones to keep in the nappy bag etc.

Hopefully we can get a great dicussion going here and help each other out.


Avoid these additives

The following is a list of the worst additives etc to avoid for anyone interested.

COLOURS

102,104,110,122,123,124,127,129,

132,133,142,143, 151,155

natural colour 160b (annatto)



PRESERVATIVES

Sorbates 200-203

Benzoates 210-213

Sulphites 220-228

Nitrates, nitrites 249-252

Propionates 280-283



SYNTHETIC ANTIOXIDANTS

Gallates 310-312

TBHQ, BHA, BHT 319-321



FLAVOUR ENHANCERS

Glutamates incl MSG 620-625

Ribonucleotides 627, 631, 635

Hydrolysed Vegetable Protein (HVP)



ARTIFICIAL FLAVOURS

No numbers since they are trade secrets

Brilliant idea Salad!

My DD does not have intolerances as such but I am very keen to avoid unnecessary additives where possible.

My mother gave me a copy of the DVD "Fed Up" when DD was born and it is a brilliant reference for outlining the repercussions of giving children additives and aggravating foods. The effects are so wide ranging and it is amazing to believe what can come from eating such simple everyday foods. It is just so daunting though... so many pitfalls when we try to be careful.

I am really looking forward to what others have to say about their experiences, and creating a good quick reference for people like myself who are a little clueless!!

Your summary there is a great start. I am going to take a copy and work from there.

jackrose, the failsafe website is a great place to start, lots of info on there, just google failsafe and it should come up I am not sure if I can post a link to it so I had better not.
There is so much to learn about the things to avoid and it can seem restrictive but I think at the end of the day you read all the info and make a decision on how you would like to approach it.
I have avoided doing an elimination diet with DD but so far just reducing or eliminating the ones I know affect her we have had a huge chancg in her behaviour, some people see no real results unless they do the elimination diet.

My DD2 has colouring issues. Bounces off the walls. MSG is one we have to avoid too.
One tip...LCM's bars are bad news! I bought one packet as a one off & learnt my lesson!

DD's snacks don't vary greatly, coz she's very fussy, but she eats the home brand le snacks, watermelon & apples mainly. They all seem to sit ok with her.

I have looked at the failsafe website a number of times, I just find it really cumbersome to navigate. That and the fact that it has sooooo much info on it I find it overwhelming!

That is why I like your thread here - a nice gentle introduction ;)

Jackrose - I do agree with you regarding the failsafe site thats why I thought I would start this, so lets hope we get some more helpful people in here to give us some tips.
Cmon ladies and men if there are any out there

You need to get the book Fed Up first to read I think. The Failsafe Diet made more sense to me once I'd read it.

I've fallen off the failsafe wagon somewhat but I still am very strict with what food I buy. Silicilates aren't an issue with my kids so I can buy a lot more for them but I do not buy anything with numbers in the ingredients. Pretty much rules out all snacks ie museli bars, le snacks, lcm's, biscuits and softdrink.

I bake a lot of muffins and bickies and we eat fruit and vegies for snacks. If we have a junk food binge then all hell breaks loose for a week!

I have been brainstorming the preservative free snack idea and dd seems to like the following:

Puffed corn- it's 100% corn and available in the health food aisle at coles
Home made hommus- chickpeas, tahini and garlic and lemon. Dd plays 'dip dip dip' and eats cheese or bread with it (preservative free bread).
Tuna and cooked spiral pasta and a bit of olive oil in a little container for her to pick at.
Oranges, bananas, apple.

What do you all think about vegemite? It has 160a in it (I think? Feeding dd ATM so can't check)

Great idea. Subscribing to keep up with this thread :)

Arcadia- with the vegemite, I have stopped giving it to DD for now, the failsafe book says its a no no, I think its to do with the yeast extract as some yeast extracts can contain MSG, you have to be careful of stock cubes etc, they say no added msg etc but they usually contain yeast extract. The yeast extract on the vegemite jar says its from barley so I am not sure about this - maybe someone a bit more knowledgable in that area could answer that question. I will try DD on it again in a little while, when I master the whole number thing a bit better. Vegemite also have 150C in it which has been linked to gastro intestinal problems and hypersensitivity, i think it also contains 508 which is also associated with gastric ulcers, circulatory collapse, nausea and liver toxicity and is not recommended for children.

Raven - I am not sure if salicyilates affect my DD, I know she reacts to grapes but I am not sure if this is due to salicylates or the MSG that is in them. Is there a way I can test this without doing an elimination diet, should I try her on another high salicylate fruit and see how she reacts. It would be a bonus if she doesnt react to them as she loves fruit and it makes such a great snack which is easy to take in the nappy bag.
At the moment I have been just giving her pears (in syrup from a tin as suggest in failsafe cookbook) and bananas

just thought i would let you know about some chips I found that are :
Gluten, Dairy, Nut and egg free, no colour additives, no flavour enhances and preservative free.
They are called Ajitas Vege chips if you google them they have a website. Heaps of flavours I have tried them before and they are nice. I have also seen them at our local IGA.