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(NewsTarget) Food marketers are vying harder than ever for your shopping dollar. They use any of 14,000 additives to make their products last longer, taste fresher or seem more appealing. The health effects of these compounds, especially in combination, are only gradually becoming apparent.Read all the details in our four part series highlighting the worst compounds typically added to the food supply.ARTIFICIAL FLAVORSLike artificial coloring, artificial flavoring is largely found in heavily processed foods and drinks. These products are so devoid of naturally occurring flavor that inexpensive synthetic versions are used to mimic the real thing. Artificial flavors fool the consumer into "tasting" raspberries or cheese or avocado while saving manufacturers money.These flavors are compounded from hundreds of chemicals. Some imitation vanilla flavorings use ingredients from petroleum or paper-mill waste. The presence of many artificial flavorings indicates that the product is compensating for real flavor found in real foods, herbs and spices. Packaging often trumpets the presence of "natural flavor" in products also riddled with artificial flavoring and minimal food value.Artificial flavorings may contain substances such as hydrolyzed vegetable protein or monosodium glutamate which are not separately listed on the package. Food manufacturers have the right to make flavorings a trade secret, giving little to no information about the actual flavoring ingredients.ASPARTAMEThis artificial sweetener is found in a great variety of foods, many marketed as healthy. These include diet beverages, frozen desserts, drink mixes, oral hygiene and pharmaceutical products, ready to eat gelatin and pudding, chewing gum, coffee flavoring and snack foods. Aspartame is of particular danger to individuals with a disorder called phenylketonuria (PKU) who are unable to metabolize phenylalanine, one of the two amino acids in aspartame. One out of every 15,000 babies in the U.S. is born with this inherited disorder and can suffer mental retardation if aspartame is ingested.Although promoted for weight loss, two Purdue University studies found that artificial sweeteners may disrupt the body's ability to correctly interpret calorie intake. "The body's natural ability to regulate food intake and body weight may be weakened when this natural relationship is impaired by artificial sweeteners," said one of the researchers, Terry Davidson. The researchers also noted an increase in obesity during the same time span that the use of artificial sweeteners increased. According to Dr. Russell L. Blaylock, author of, aspartame is linked to cancer and neurological problems. Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) lists aspartame on the foods to avoid list as a possible neurotoxin and as a likely cancer risk.SourcesExcitotoxins: The Taste That Kills by Russell L. BlaylockLaura Weldon lives on an organic farm and believes in bliss. Learn more about her book "Free Range Learning" by visiting at www.lauragraceweldon.com