Sophisticated Diets and Man’s Health 
of chemicals in the sophisticated culture of plants and beasts 
may sound very alarming. The reports? from the Joint FAO/ 
WHO Expert Committee on food additives and a symposium 
organized in 1961 by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 
stand witness to increasing uneasiness on this score!!. 
It would be reasonable to adopt a strict approach to those 
additives which serve no useful purpose other than improving 
appearance or flavour. Food colours could reasonably be 
banned until they have been thoroughly tested according to 
principles laid down in the reports of the Joint FAO/WHO 
Committees. 
On the useful additives and chemical residues we must keep 
a proper perspective. Almost every aspect of modern techno- 
logy has introduced new hazards into our environment. Food 
technology is no exception. I quote from one contributor to 
the symposium in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition: 
Should we not try to determine whether the hazard 1s large, 
medium sized, small or imaginary ? In every decision on additives 
and residues, concern for the public health must be paramount; 
but if the risk is so small that it can be appreciated only by the 
elect, the professional viewers-with-alarm, then at least it should 
be balanced against the economic advaniages of the additive in 
question. In considering the problem of residues, let us not lose 
sight of the importance of the protein and vitamins which we 
expect producers to furnish us at low cost in meat, milk and eggs. 
Metallic Contaminants 
Technological sophistication has introduced into the diets of 
man small quantities of metals and trace elements and if 
these are not excreted there is a possibility of extensive accumu- 
lation during a lifetime. 
One example of this is the accumulation of iron in the 
tissues of the Bantu of Southern Africa. The exact reasons for 
this accumulation are still unknown. Possibilities include the 
effects cf malnutrition on the metabolism of tissue cells 
(cytosiderosis) and increased absorption of iron from the 
intestine in pancreatic deficiency. Another reason, undoubt- 
edly, is a high intake of iron in the diet derived from customs 
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