The first and still most widely known person to report that these additives may trigger behavioral and hyperactive reactions was Dr. Ben Feingold, at one time chief of Allergy at the Kaiser-Permanente Medical Center in San Francisco. Although other researchers had difficulty in duplicating Feingold's favorable results, Egger's classic study, which implicated food allergies as a prime factor in the hyperkinetic syndrome, found that food additives and colorants were the most common substances that produced abnormal behavior in the patients. Nitrites are used to cure bacon and other pork products. They protect the consumer from botulism, but unfortunately, nitrites convert to the potent carcinogen, nitrosamine, in the body. Sulfites are a class of chemicals that can keep cut fruits and vegetables looking fresh, even when they are not.
Reactions occur mostly in patients with asthma.
However, the ban does not cover grapes, fresh-cut potatoes, dried fruits, or wine. BHT and BHA delay rancidity in food products containing fats or oils. They are used in products such as baking mixtures, cereals, instant potatoes, ice cream, candy, chewing gum, gelatin desserts, soup bases, dry mixes for desserts, and other commercially prepared foods. They are suspected of being carcinogenic, and they may cause allergies. In conclusion, food additives may in some instances serve a useful and necessary purpose, as in the prevention of botulism and other diseases.