Are food preservatives bad for you? - Eleanor Nelsen

Lektor: Ivana Krivokuća

Food doesn't last.

Hrana se kvari.

In days, sometimes hours, bread goes moldy,

Posle nekoliko dana, a ponekad sati, hleb se ubuđa,

apple slices turn brown,

parče jabuke potamni,

and bacteria multiply in mayonnaise.

a u majonezu se namnože bakterije.

But you can find all of these foods out on the shelf at the grocery store,

Ali svu ovu hranu možete naći na polici u prodavnici,

nadajmo se, nepokvarenu,

hopefully unspoiled,

thanks to preservatives.

zahvaljujući konzervansima.

But what exactly are preservatives?

Šta su tačno konzervansi?

Kako omogućavaju da hrana bude jestiva i da li su bezbedni?

How do they help keep food edible and are they safe?

There are two major factors that cause food to go bad:

Postoje dva glavna faktora zbog kojih se hrana kvari:

mikrobi i oksidacija.

microbes and oxidation.

Microbes like bacteria and fungi invade food

Mikrobi poput bakterija i gljiva

napadaju hranu i hrane se hranljivim materijama.

and feed off its nutrients.

Some of these can cause diseases,

Neki od njih mogu dovesti do bolesti,

like listeria and botulism.

kao što su listerija i botulizam.

Others just turn edibles into a smelly, slimy, moldy mess.

Drugi samo pretvaraju hranu u ljigavo, buđavo smeće.

Meanwhile, oxidation is a chemical change in the food's molecules

S druge strane, oksidacija je hemijska promena u molekulima hrane,

caused by enzymes or free radicals which turn fats rancid

prouzrokovana enzimima ili slobodnim radikalima

zbog kojih mast užegne, a hrana kao što su jabuke ili krompir potamni.

and brown produce, like apples and potatoes.

Preservatives can prevent both types of deterioration.

Konzervansi mogu sprečiti obe vrste propadanja.

Before the invention of artificial refrigeration,

Pre pojave veštačkog hlađenja,

fungi and bacteria could run rampant in food.

gljive i bakterije mogle su da haraju u hrani.

So we found ways to create an inhospitable environment for microbes.

Zato smo pronašli načine da stvorimo nepogodnu sredinu za mikrobe.

For example, making the food more acidic unravels enzymes

Na primer, kiseljenje hrane odvaja enzime

that microbes need to survive.

potrebne mikrobima da bi preživeli.

And some types of bacteria can actually help.

A neke bakterije mogu biti i od koristi.

For thousands of years, people preserved food using bacteria

Hiljadama godina, bakterije koje proizvode mlečnu kiselinu

that produce lactic acid.

koristile su se za čuvanje hrane.

The acid turns perishable vegetables and milk

Kiselina pretvara kvarljivo povrće i mleko

into longer lasting foods,

u trajniju hranu,

kao što je kiseli kupus u Evropi,

like sauerkraut in Europe,

kimchi in Korea,

kimči u Koreji

and yogurt in the Middle East.

i jogurt na Srednjem istoku.

These cultured foods also populate your digestive track with beneficial microbes.

Ova fermentisana jela takođe stvaraju korisne mikrobe u crevnom sistemu.

Many synthetic preservatives are also acids.

Mnogi veštački konzervansi takođe su kiseline.

Benzoic acid in salad dressing,

Benzojeva kiselina u sosevima za salatu,

sorbic acid in cheese,

sorbinska kiselina u siru

and propionic acid in baked goods.

i propionska kiselina u pecivima.

Are they safe?

Da li su one bezbedne?

Some studies suggest that benzoates, related to benzoic acid,

Neka istraživanja ukazuju da benzoati, povezani s benzojevom kiselinom,

contribute to hyperactive behavior.

doprinose hiperaktivnom ponašanju.

But the results aren't conclusive.

Ali rezultati nisu konačni.

Ne računajući to, ove kiseline deluju potpuno bezbedno.

Otherwise, these acids seem to be perfectly safe.

Another antimicrobial strategy is to add a lot of sugar, like in jam,

Još jedna strategija protiv mikroba je dodavanje mnogo šećera, kao kod džema,

or salt, like in salted meats.

ili soli, kao kod usoljenog mesa.

Sugar and salt hold on to water that microbes need to grow

Šećer i so zadržavaju vodu potrebnu mikrobima da rastu

i u stvari isisavaju vlagu iz eventualno preostalih ćelija

and actually suck moisture out of any cells that may be hanging around,

i tako ih uništavaju.

thus destroying them.

Of course, too much sugar and salt can increase your risk of heart disease,

Naravno, previše šećera i soli može povećati rizik od srčanih problema,

diabetes,

dijabetesa

and high blood pressure,

i visokog krvnog pritiska,

pa je te konzervanse najbolje umereno koristiti.

so these preservatives are best in moderation.

Antimicrobial nitrates and nitrites, often found in cured meats,

Antimikrobni nitrati i nitriti, često prisutni u suhomesnatim proizvodima,

ward off the bacteria that cause botulism, but they may cause other health problems.

odbijaju bakterije koje uzrokuju botulizam,

ali mogu dovesti do drugih zdravstvenih problema.

Some studies linking cured meats to cancer

Neke studije koje povezuju mesne proizvode sa rakom

have suggested that these preservatives may be the culprit.

ukazuju da ovi konzervansi mogu biti krivac tome.

Meanwhile, antioxidant preservatives prevent the chemical changes

S druge strane, antioksidantni konzervansi sprečavaju hemijske promene

that can give food an off-flavor or color.

koje mogu dovesti do lošeg mirisa ili boje hrane.

Smoke has been used to preserve food for millennia

Dim se vekovima koristio za čuvanje hrane

because some of the aromatic compounds in wood smoke are antioxidants.

jer su neke aromatične supstance u dimu antioksidansi.

Combining smoking with salting was an effective way of preserving meat

Kombinacija dima i soli bila je delotvorna za čuvanje mesa

before refrigeration.

pre hlađenja.

For antioxidant activity without a smoky flavor,

Za antioksidantni učinak bez ukusa dima,

there are compounds like BHT and tocopherol,

postoje supstance kao što su BHT i tokoferol,

better known as vitamin E.

poznatiji kao vitamin E.

Like the compounds in smoke, these sop up free radicals

Kao i supstance dima, oni čiste slobodne radikale

and stave off rancid flavors

i sprečavaju užegli ukus

that can develop in foods like oils,

koji se može pojaviti u ulju,

cheese,

siru

i žitaricama.

and cereal.

Drugi antioksidansi kao što su limunska kiselina i aksorbinska kiselina

Other antioxidants like citric acid and ascorbic acid

help cut produce keep its color

pomažu da sečeni poljoprivredni proizvodi zadrže svoju boju

by thwarting the enzyme that causes browning.

tako što ometaju enzime koji dovode do potamnjivanja.

Some compounds like sulfites can multitask.

Neke supstance kao što su sulfati mogu imati više uloga.

They're both antimicrobials and antioxidants.

U isto vreme su antimikrobni agensi i antioksidansi.

Sulfati mogu kod nekih ljudi dovesti do alergijskih simptoma,

Sulfites may cause allergy symptoms in some people,

but most antioxidant preservatives are generally recognized as safe.

ali većina antioksidantnih konzervansa je uglavnom bezbedna.

So should you be worried about preservatives?

Dakle, da li bi trebalo da se zabrinete zbog konzervansa?

Well, they're usually near the end of the ingredients list

Pa, oni su uglavnom na kraju liste sastojaka

because they're used in very small amounts

jer se koriste u veoma malim količinama

determined by the FDA to be safe.

za koje je Uprava za hranu i lekove utvrdila da su bezbedne.

Nevertheless, some consumers and companies

Bez obzira na to, neki potrošači i firme

are trying to find alternatives.

traže alternativu.

Packaging tricks, like reducing the oxygen around the food can help,

Trikovi pri pakovanju poput smanjenja kiseonika oko hrane mogu pomoći,

but without some kind of chemical assistance,

ali bez izvesne pomoći hemije,

there are very few foods that can stay shelf stable for long.

samo malo vrsta hrane može dugo stajati na sobnoj temperaturi.