What Exactly is TBHQ and Should We Be Eating It?

One of the many reasons to eat real, unprocessed food is that when we do so, we have a better chance of knowing what we’re getting.

Buy a bunch of organic broccoli and there’s not too much to be confused by, apart from the inherent uncertainty that is, sadly, a part of our modern food supply system.

We can’t really be sure of what the soil quality was, even if the grower themselves is certified organic, there’s no telling what practices and chemicals their neighbors might employ.

Other than growing all of our own food, developing relationships with local growers is key in helping to rebuild our local communities, revitalize our soil quality and decrease the carbon footprint.

Suffice to say, the more we can rely on real food that we can actually identify as food, the better off we are.

Which is exactly why the subject of being able to decipher labels comes up time and time again.

Back in the day, we were advised to look for low fat, then fat free.

We were also told to avoid salt, and then we moved into the low carb and keto arena, which, while perhaps based on what was once a valid approach to eating, only served to make matters more confusing, steering consumers to look only at certain parts of already tricky labeling, with the bottom dollar as the most important goal… not the health of the people who eat the products.

There are thousands of ingredients on the GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) List, published by the FDA (1) but the FDA and the public know little about the safety of these ingredients and other known GRAS-designated ingredients are believed to pose significant health risks (2).

Let’s focus in on just one of these additives:? TBHQ (tert-butylhydroquinone).

You'll often find TBHQ in foods like crackers ...Read More: https://www.paleoista.com/nutritional-approach/what-exactly-is-tbhq-and-should-we-be-eating-it/