- Salicylates: tea, liquorice, almonds, herbs, spices, peppermint; all vegetables (except potato, peas, beans, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussel sprouts, celery, onion, asparagus, garlic); all fruit (except pears, mango, pawpaw, and bananas); all dried fruit; cider wine, liquor, vinegar, sauces, pickles.
- Benzoic acid [210 – 213]: naturally occurring in many foods that contain salicylate; also as preservative added to fruit juice, cordials and soft drinks.
- Metabisulphite (sulfur dioxide) [220 – 228]: preservative added to fruit juices, cordials, soft drinks, dried fruits, dried vegetables, sausages, commercial chips, pickled onions, cheese mixtures, pastes, vinegar, cider, wine, beer, essences, syrups and toppings.
- Sorbic acid [200]: preservative added to fruit juices, cordials, dried fruits, dried vegetables, cheese slices, pickled food.
- Nitrate / Nitrite [249 – 252]: preservative added to processed meat e.g. ham, bacon, corned beef, sausages, salami etc.
- Propionic Acid [280]: preservatives added to bakery items e.g. bread, crumpets.
- Antioxidants (butylhydroxyanisol [320], butylhydroxytoluene [321]): preservative added to commercial fatty foods e.g. vegetable oils, margarine, snack foods such as Twisties, Cheezels, chips, chewing gum, ice-cream, instant potatoes.
- Azo dyes / colouring agents (Tartrazine [102], Annatto [110], Erythrosine [127], etc.): colourings added to processed foods e.g. pastries, cakes, biscuits, candies, soft drinks, cordials.
- Brewers yeast: Vegemite, Marmite, Promite, some wines, some beers.
- Monosodium glutamate (620 – 625): flavour enhancer added to commercial savoury meals and some take-aways, condiments, snack foods; tomato, wine, yeast extracts, meat extracts, soy sauce, mushrooms, parmesan cheese, camembert, blue vein cheese.
- Amines: cheese, chocolate, avocado, banana, broad beans, tomato, yeast extracts, meat extracts, soy sauce, liver, alcoholic beverages, red plums, yoghurt, raspberry, orange pulp, pickled herrings, pineapple, tuna, miso.
Featured Image: The international pictogram for chemicals that are sensitising, mutagenic, carcinogenic or toxic to reproduction. [Wikimedia Commons]
