unlisted preservative #tBHQ might provoke #allergies, #obesity

6.9: news.health/immunity/
unlisted preservative tBHQ might provoke allergies, obesity:
. conventional preventive health science
has warned us to avoid fat
claiming it was the main source of
both cancer and heart disease,
whereas alternative medicine warned
that the primary problem was from
a diet high in grains and sugars.
. here is another example of convention
being right for the wrong reasons:
. it turns out that most added fat
in the many processed foods in the usa
contains hidden preservatives
which might have adverse affects
including food allergies and obesity.



prof Cheryl Rockwell:
. tBHQ is a preservative in many oily foods;
and some soft drinks [Spain 2015];
and cosmetics [NIH]
Often tBHQ is not listed on the label;
yet tBHQ in lab animals has been show to cause
the immune system's T cells
to release a different set of cytokines,
ones known to trigger allergies to some foods.
. the increasing prevalence of food allergies
may be due to the increased use of tBHQ.

NIH research.

European food safety research:
Male rats on the diet with 0.02% TBHQ in unheated fat
showed a significant increase in weight gain
over control. These effects were not observed
in female rats on diets containing heated fats.
Immunotoxicity:
In a study on immunotoxicity (NTP Study Number: IMM87036)
only minor effects have been observed:
TBHQ at doses between 25 and 150 mg/kg
administered for 14 days to B6C3F1 mice
produced only slight alterations in
two innate immune activities.
There was a slight increase in the amount of the
3rd component of complement,
a slight increase in FC mediated adherence
and phagocytosis by peritoneal adherent cells,
and a slight increase in
natural killer cell activity.
These increases in innate immune response
may be a physiological response to TBHQ.
All other immune parameters assessed
were unaffected.
In the basic toxicology studies,
liver and spleen weight increased slightly,
reticulocyte number increased,
total number of the polymorphonuclear leukocytes
decreased, and blood glucose increased slightly
in mice treated with TBHQ.
[--blood glucose increases may be a sign of
insulin resistance related to obesity.]
cancer:
. data from Australia, Brazil, China, and usa
indicates it's not a human carcinogen.
According to the petitioner,
under normal conditions of storing and cooking
the main decomposition product is
2-tertiary-butyl-p-benzoquinone (TBBQ).
max expected dose:
European adults who are high fat eaters
and for which all fats would contain
200 mg TBHQ/kg would therefore be
exposed on average to 24.4 mg of this additive.
A worse case estimate is 38.8 mg TBHQ (Belgium survey).
Considering a 60 kg body weight,
this exposure would be equivalent on average
to 0.4 mg/kg with a worse case of
0.6 mg /kg (Belgium survey)

World Health Organization, 1999:
The highest level of use of TBHQ permitted in the
General Standard for Food Additives
being developed by the Codex Committee on
Food Additives and Contaminants (CCFAC)
is 1000 mg/kg for frozen fish, and fish products.
The Committee identified foods or food groups
that potentially contribute to high intake of TBHQ:
category 2, 'fats and oils/fat emulsions';
category 9.2, 'frozen fish and fish products;
category 14.1.4.1, 'soft drinks'.
. the estimated intake of TBHQ from soft drinks
in Aus-NZ was 340% of the ADI [acceptable daily intake]
when the GSFA use level (200 mg/kg) was applied,
even though TBHQ is not currently permitted
in soft drinks [in Australia and New Zealand?].

NIH`Safety and Hazards:
tert-Butylhydroquinone May cause
an allergic skin reaction
[Warning Sensitization, Skin - Category 1]

Dr. Benjamin Feingold:
Hyperactivity can be triggered by synthetic additives
– specifically synthetic colors, synthetic flavors
and the preservatives BHA, BHT (and later TBHQ) –
and also a group of foods containing a natural
salicylate radical. This is an immunological
– not an allergic – response.
Dr. Feingold was in a unique position
to recognize the dietary component
of behavioral disorders
As an allergist, he was familiar with the
long-established use of the elimination diet
for determining allergenic sources
– and in the case of food dyes
to recognize that this was an immunological response,
not an allergic reaction.
As an allergist, he had already been using
the elimination diet
developed by Dr. Lockey at the Mayo Clinic
for control of hidden allergens
across a wide range of foods or food additives
– a diet developed for skin allergy
such as urticaria (hives) and aspirin-induced asthma,
for both children and adults.
As a pediatrician since the 1920’s,
he was aware of the historic change in prevalence
of disease and behavioral problems
in children during the early 1960s
(when food dyes, flavorings, and preservatives
proliferated on the supermarket shelves).
As Chief of Allergy at Kaiser Permanente,
he had the power to have colleagues search for
specific types of patients to observe,
and to implement clinical studies.
--
Snopes agent Alex Kasprak:
Dr. Benjamin Feingold advocates the
removal of myriad food additives,
including TBHQ, as a cure for
attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder
and other behavioral issues.
Despite his claims, however,
no research specifically focused on TBHQ
has documented any connection,
and those diets he promotes generally treat a
broad collection of additives as the same,
despite clear chemical differences.

endoplasmic reticulum calcium pump inhibitor:
Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1995:
Effects of 2,5-di(tert-butyl)-1,4-hydroquinone,
an endoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+)-ATPase inhibitor,
on agonist-stimulated phasic myometrial contractions.
Phasic myometrial contractions utilize mechanisms
involving the cycling of calcium into and out of
intracellular calcium stores.
These studies were performed to determine the effects of
2,5-di(tert-butyl)-1,4-hydroquinone (tBHQ),
an endoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+)-ATPase inhibitor,
on in vitro isometric myometrial contractions.
These studies demonstrated that
low concentrations of tBHQ (eg. 10 microM)
appear to inhibit intracellular calcium cycling,
whereas higher concentrations
also inhibit extracellular calcium influx.
These combined tBHQ effects markedly suppressed
myometrial [uterine] contractions
stimulated in response to various agonists.
co:
. since tBHQ is inhibiting the
endoplasmic reticulum calcium pump,
it may be flooding the cytoplasm with calcium ions,
and that might induce apoptosis (cell suicide)?

TBHQ and cancer:

Food Chem. 2014:
Cytotoxicity and DNA damage properties
of tert-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ) food additive.

Curr Drug Metab. 2007:
Chemoprotective and carcinogenic effects of
tert-butylhydroquinone and its metabolites.
In North America, the maximum level of tBHQ
allowed in fat products is 0.02%
with an acceptable daily intake of
0-0.7 mg/kg body weight.
. a number of studies have shown that
chronic exposure to tBHQ may induce carcinogenicity.
However, the precise mechanisms of tBHQ carcinogenicity
are not well understood.
The toxicity or carcinogenicity of tBHQ
has been attributed to the formation of
reactive GSH-conjugates,
generation of reactive species,
CYP1A1 induction, caspase activation
and reduced GSH/ATP levels.

Drug Metab Dispos. 2005:
tert-Butylhydroquinone is a novel
aryl hydrocarbon receptor ligand.
. the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) antagonist,
resveratrol, inhibited the increase in
Cyp1a1 activity by tBHQ.
This is the first demonstration that
the phenolic antioxidant, tBHQ,
can directly induce Cyp1a1 gene expression
in an AHR-dependent manner
and may represent a novel mechanism by which
tBHQ promotes carcinogenicity.
more:
Among the AHR-regulated genes,
CYP1A1 is the most capable in producing
polar, toxic, or even carcinogenic metabolites
from various AHR ligands including
aromatic and halogenated hydrocarbons.
These metabolites have been shown to
be involved in the mediation of
a broad range of distinct toxic responses
such as immune suppression,
endocrine disruption, birth defects,
and carcinogenesis (Poland and Knuston, 1982).
. tert-Butylhydroquinone (tBHQ) is a major metabolite
of 3-tert-butyl-hydroxyanisole (BHA)
in vivo in dogs, rats, and humans (Nakamura et al., 2003).
The metabolic formation of tBHQ has been suggested
to, at least in part, contribute to
the carcinogenicity effect of BHA.

regulations allow it to be hidden:

fda`Guidance for Industry:
What ingredient listing is necessary
for chemical preservatives?
Answer: When an approved chemical preservative
is added to a food,
the ingredient list must include
both the common or usual name of the preservative
and the function of the preservative
by including terms, such as “preservative,”
“to retard spoilage,” “a mold inhibitor,”
“to help protect flavor,” or “to promote color retention.”
21 CFR 101.22(j)
however:
Is it necessary to declare ingredients
in “trace”, i.e., incidental amounts?
Answer: FDA does not define “trace amounts”;
however, there are some exemptions
for declaring ingredients present in
“incidental” amounts in a finished food.
If an ingredient is present at an incidental level
and has no functional or technical effect
in the finished product,
then it need not be declared on the label.
An incidental additive is usually present because
it is an ingredient of another ingredient.
[eg, tBHQ is an ingredient of added fat;
therefore it doesn't have to be listed.]

Canadian hidden ingredient law:
Ingredients of the third generation and so on
are generally not required to be
included in the ingredients list.
For example:
ice cream containing vanilla cookie pieces
containing vanilla extract that contains alcohol
doesn't have to list alcohol.
Ingredients that Generally
Do Not have to declare their components:
[includes many fats that would could contain
artificial preservatives such as tBHQ.]
Components Which Must Always Be Declared:
[does not require listing of
artificial preservatives such as tBHQ.]

trade secrets hide ingredients:

fda`confidentiality of the ingredient information:
. the Tobacco Control Act added section 904
to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act
(the act) (21 U.S.C. 387d),
establishing requirements for tobacco product
ingredient submissions.
Section 904(a)(1) of the act requires
each tobacco product manufacturer or importer, or agent thereof,
to submit a listing of all ingredients,
including tobacco, substances, compounds, and additives
that are added by the manufacturer to the
tobacco, paper, filter, or other part of each tobacco product
by brand and by quantity in each brand and subbrand.
Information submitted under section 904 of the act
may include, but is not limited to, a
company's non-public trade secret or
confidential commercial information.
Several laws govern the confidentiality
of ingredient information
submitted under section 904 of the act,
including sections 301(j) and 906(c) of the act
(21 U.S.C. 331(j) and 387f(c)),
the Trade Secrets Act (18 U.S.C. 1905),
and the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552),
as well as FDA’s implementing regulations.
Section 906(c) of the act prohibits FDA from
disclosing any information reported to
or otherwise obtained by FDA under section 904,
among other provisions, if that information is
confidential commercial
or trade secret information
exempt from disclosure under
FOIA Exemption 4 (5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4)).