Tuesday, March 29, 2005

COSMETIC SAFETY BRUSH OFF

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently acted on a petition filed by the Environmental Working Group and warned the cosmetic industry that the agency was serious about enforcing the law requiring companies to inform consumers personal care products have not been safety tested. The fact is that most cosmetics have "not been safety tested" and putting a notice on the label is an exercise in futility.

Do you realize that anyone can go in to the cosmetic business and the FDA does not require pre-testing for safety as it does for pharmaceuticals?

When I checked for The Sixth Edition of A Consumer's Dictionary of Cosmetics Ingredients just published by Three Rivers Press, the FDA's Cosmetics Office, which deals with the $34 billion cosmetics and toiletries industry, had twenty-five full time employees and no full-time field agents assigned to do only cosmetic work.

There are an estimated one thousand companies known to be producing twenty thousand cosmetics and toiletries. How many others are churning out products? No one knows!

The large and some small cosmetics companies do pre-test their products. Since advertising and promotion are one of their major expenses, they want to protect their investments and reputations. Cosmetic manufacturers may exaggerate the benefits of what they sell but they do not want to physically harm their customers.

If a company receives reports of adverse reactions to one of its cosmetics, alerting the FDA is voluntary. The FDA can take action against a hazardous product only after it receives reports from consumers or medical personnel that there is a problem.

Recalls taken by the cosmetic industry to call back products that present a hazard, or that are somehow defective are voluntary. The FDA is not permitted to require recalls but does monitor companies that conduct a product recall.

If you have an adverse reaction to a cosmetic, report it! You can contact your local FDA office if there is one. If not, contact the FDA, Office of Cosmetics and Colors (HFS-106), 5100 Paint Branch Parkway, College Park, MD 20740-3835, or use the website: http://www.fda.gov/opacom/backgrounders/problems.html#cosmetics.

Thursday, March 24, 2005

LIFE SAVING NEW TECHNOLOGY TO IDENTIFY PILLS AND POISONS

Besides cell phones and iPods, you may be able to carry a small device that can quickly identify the ingredients in a possibly deadly chemical compound left by a terrorist or an accident. Your doctor may also have a small device in his or her office that will not only identify what ails you but whether a pharmaceutical will be of benefit to you, in particular, or cause you to have an adverse, perhaps fatal reaction.

In the first instance, The First Defender is an all-optical system. The hand held device developed by Ahura Corporation, Wilmington, MA enables first responders to accurately identify liquids and solids in seconds in the field. It accesses a large data base including chemical weapons, explosives, toxic chemicals, white-powders, narcotics, contraband, and forensic evidence. It has a fast start up---15 seconds from cold start to first measurement.

"We are committed to become the leader in innovative ultra compact portable instrumentation," Dr. Daryoosh Vakhshoori, Founder and CEO, says: "We are driven to develop cost-effective products for first responders. We will continue to push the technological envelop on product performance while moving quickly to transition our designs into production for customers in government and industry."

New technology may also help identify and treat what ails you, as an individual. Instead of the standard hit-or-miss approach where it can take multiple attempts to find the right drug and the right dose, doctors will be able to analyze your genetic profile and prescribe the best available drug therapy and dose from the start.

For example, this technology can answer:

• Whether you have a viral or bacterial infection.

• What medication will be affective for you.

Motorola’s eSensor™ DNA Detection System has the ability to rapidly and specifically identify the cause of your infection and its potential drug susceptibility based on your personal genetic make-up.
Motorola Life Sciences of Pasadena, CA., sold the first eSensor DNA Biochip Assays-which are about the size of postage stamps---to Sanofi-Synethelabo’s research organization in Malvern, PA. for use in the initial phase of human testing of new drug. It will be just the beginning for this new technology. The FDA recently approved the first laboratory assessment, the Amplichip Cytochrome P450 Genotyping Test, which will also enable physicians to use genetic information to select the right doses of certain medications for patients with cardiac, psychiatric or malignant diseases.


"We hope ultimately to bring pharmacogenomics, a way in which to foster the personalizing of medicine, to every healthcare professional's prescription pad for the benefit of their patients and US consumers," says Janet Woodcock, MD, FDA's Acting Deputy Commissioner for Operations .

Monday, March 21, 2005

YOU MAY ATTRACT MORE THAN THE OPPOSITE SEX WITH MUSK

Synthetic musks, which are widely used as fragrances in a variety of products, may pose a hidden threat to human health by enhancing the effect of compounds that are toxic, according to a study published recently in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP). Researchers found that musk compounds inhibited natural defenses against toxicants in California mussels and that the effect remained long after exposure ended. Why worry about adverse effects in mussels?

We are exposed to musks through the skin when we use soaps and cosmetics, and wear clothes washed with scented detergents. We may also inhale musks through cologne sprays. Every year, approximately 8,000 metric tons of synthetic musks are produced worldwide.

Under normal circumstances, cells resist toxicants through proteins that keep foreign chemicals from entering cells. Using mussel gill tissue because its protein transporters are particularly active, the researchers incubated tissue for 90 minutes in a solution of musk compounds and a fluorescent dye. Finding the dye in the tissue would indicate that the defensive proteins were failing. The tissue remained compromised 48 hours after exposure for four of the six musk compounds tested.

The authors of the article are Till Luckenbach and David Epel of Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University. They conclude their study especially points to the need to screen musks and other environmental chemicals that accumulate in humans to determine if they are also chemical sensitizers.

They wrote that especially critical is to ascertain whether musks cause long-term effects similar to those seen in their study and that such substances could result in unanticipated accumulation of toxicants in humans and confound safety predictions of seemingly innocuous chemicals.

Musks are used in foods as well as cosmetics. Here is a brief rundown from A Consumer's Dictionary of Food Additives and A Consumer's Dictionary of Cosmetic Ingredients:

MUSK. Musk acts as an odor carrier, improving and fortifying transportation of the vapors of other perfume materials. Natural musk, moschus moschiferus, is the dried secretion from the posterior part of an Asian deer's abdomen where a small sac situated immediately under the skin is filled with a thick fluid, abounding particularly in the rutting season. It is a brown, unctuous, smelly substance associated with attracting the opposite sex and which is promoted by stores for such purposes. In addition to cosmetics, it used in food flavorings and at one time was employed as a stimulant and nerve sedative in medicine. Natural musk can cause allergic reactions.

MUSK AMBRETTE . A synthetic musk widely used as a fragrance ingredient in perfumes, soaps, detergents, creams, lotions, and dentifrices in the United States at an estimated 100,000 pounds per year. Musk ambrette had been used in fragranced products since before the 1920s. In 1967, it was reportedly found to damage the myelin, the covering of nerve fibers. This was first discovered when mice were fed varying levels of musk ambrette. Since dietary consumption of musk ambrette is generally very low, the impact was discounted and no assessment was made of exposures from fragranced products. In 1985, after studies were published on the neurotoxic effect and it was determined that the musk ambrette was readily absorbed through the skin, the fragrance industry, itself, recommended that musk ambrette not be used in direct skin contact products. Musk ambrette can also cause sensitivity to light and contact dermatitis, especially in after-shave lotions. Musk tetralin, in use for twenty years as a fragrance ingredient, was identified as a neurotoxin and removed from the market in 1978. Musk Ambrette is still used as in food but not in cosmetics and has been generally recognized as safe (GRAS) for foods by the FDA.


MUSK MOSKENE .A soft, sweet fragrance resembling musk ambrette. It is a creamy powder and is used in fragrances. It costs less than other musks and is not as sensitive to sunlight. It is therefore being increasingly employed. Rouges and perfumes containing musk moskene have been reported to cause hyperpigmentation (brown spots) on the skin of some people. The hyperpigmentation slowly disappeared after discontinuation of the products

LABDANUM . A synthetic musk used in perfumes, especially as a fixative, is a volatile oil obtained by steam distillation from gum extracted from various rockrose shrubs. Golden yellow, viscous, with a strong balsamic odor and a bitter taste, it is also employed as a food additive in raspberry, fruit, and vanilla flavorings for beverages, ice cream, ices, candy, baked goods, gelatin desserts, and chewing gum. Mildly toxic by ingestion. It has also been noted as a skin irritant. While it has been reported in use the FDA, has not yet designated it for a search of the toxicology literature.

ACETYL HEXAMETHYL TETRALIN . A synthetic musk used mostly in cosmetics but in some food additives. It is closely related to acetyl ethyl tetramethyl tetralin, which was voluntarily removed from perfumes when it was reported to cause nerve damage in animals. The "hexa" component was inserted to make the fragrances less volatile and less allergenic

MUSK, KETONE. A synthetic compound with a typical musk odor is widely used in cosmetics and is permitted as a food additive. Exposure to it, experiments in animals and with human cells indicate it might increase the susceptibility to health hazards caused by cancer causing agents humans.

Although the latest warning about synthetic musk was in EHP, published by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, whether any action will be taken on these widely used substances in our food and cosmetics is doubtful unless there is some consumer action.

YOU MAY ATTRACT MORE THAN THE OPPOSITE SEX WITH MUSK

Synthetic musks, which are widely used as fragrances in a variety of products, may pose a hidden threat to human health by enhancing the effect of compounds that are toxic, according to a study published recently in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP). Researchers found that musk compounds inhibited natural defenses against toxicants in California mussels and that the effect remained long after exposure ended. Why worry about adverse effects in mussels?

We are exposed to musks through the skin when we use soaps and cosmetics, and wear clothes washed with scented detergents. We may also inhale musks through cologne sprays. Every year, approximately 8,000 metric tons of synthetic musks are produced worldwide.

Under normal circumstances, cells resist toxicants through proteins that keep foreign chemicals from entering cells. Using mussel gill tissue because its protein transporters are particularly active, the researchers incubated tissue for 90 minutes in a solution of musk compounds and a fluorescent dye. Finding the dye in the tissue would indicate that the defensive proteins were failing. The tissue remained compromised 48 hours after exposure for four of the six musk compounds tested.

The authors of the article are Till Luckenbach and David Epel of Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University. They conclude their study especially points to the need to screen musks and other environmental chemicals that accumulate in humans to determine if they are also chemical sensitizers.

They wrote that especially critical is to ascertain whether musks cause long-term effects similar to those seen in their study and that such substances could result in unanticipated accumulation of toxicants in humans and confound safety predictions of seemingly innocuous chemicals.

Musks are used in foods as well as cosmetics. Here is a brief rundown from A Consumer's Dictionary of Food Additives and A Consumer's Dictionary of Cosmetic Ingredients:

MUSK. Musk acts as an odor carrier, improving and fortifying transportation of the vapors of other perfume materials. Natural musk, moschus moschiferus, is the dried secretion from the posterior part of an Asian deer's abdomen where a small sac situated immediately under the skin is filled with a thick fluid, abounding particularly in the rutting season. It is a brown, unctuous, smelly substance associated with attracting the opposite sex and which is promoted by stores for such purposes. In addition to cosmetics, it used in food flavorings and at one time was employed as a stimulant and nerve sedative in medicine. Natural musk can cause allergic reactions.

MUSK AMBRETTE . A synthetic musk widely used as a fragrance ingredient in perfumes, soaps, detergents, creams, lotions, and dentifrices in the United States at an estimated 100,000 pounds per year. Musk ambrette had been used in fragranced products since before the 1920s. In 1967, it was reportedly found to damage the myelin, the covering of nerve fibers. This was first discovered when mice were fed varying levels of musk ambrette. Since dietary consumption of musk ambrette is generally very low, the impact was discounted and no assessment was made of exposures from fragranced products. In 1985, after studies were published on the neurotoxic effect and it was determined that the musk ambrette was readily absorbed through the skin, the fragrance industry, itself, recommended that musk ambrette not be used in direct skin contact products. Musk ambrette can also cause sensitivity to light and contact dermatitis, especially in after-shave lotions. Musk tetralin, in use for twenty years as a fragrance ingredient, was identified as a neurotoxin and removed from the market in 1978. Musk Ambrette is still used as in food but not in cosmetics and has been generally recognized as safe (GRAS) for foods by the FDA.


MUSK MOSKENE .A soft, sweet fragrance resembling musk ambrette. It is a creamy powder and is used in fragrances. It costs less than other musks and is not as sensitive to sunlight. It is therefore being increasingly employed. Rouges and perfumes containing musk moskene have been reported to cause hyperpigmentation (brown spots) on the skin of some people. The hyperpigmentation slowly disappeared after discontinuation of the products

LABDANUM . A synthetic musk used in perfumes, especially as a fixative, is a volatile oil obtained by steam distillation from gum extracted from various rockrose shrubs. Golden yellow, viscous, with a strong balsamic odor and a bitter taste, it is also employed as a food additive in raspberry, fruit, and vanilla flavorings for beverages, ice cream, ices, candy, baked goods, gelatin desserts, and chewing gum. Mildly toxic by ingestion. It has also been noted as a skin irritant. While it has been reported in use the FDA, has not yet designated it for a search of the toxicology literature.

ACETYL HEXAMETHYL TETRALIN . A synthetic musk used mostly in cosmetics but in some food additives. It is closely related to acetyl ethyl tetramethyl tetralin, which was voluntarily removed from perfumes when it was reported to cause nerve damage in animals. The "hexa" component was inserted to make the fragrances less volatile and less allergenic

MUSK, KETONE. A synthetic compound with a typical musk odor is widely used in cosmetics and is permitted as a food additive. Exposure to it, experiments in animals and with human cells indicate it might increase the susceptibility to health hazards caused by cancer causing agents humans.

Although the latest warning about synthetic musk was in EHP, published by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, whether any action will be taken on these widely used substances in our food and cosmetics is doubtful unless there is some consumer action.

Thursday, March 17, 2005

WHAT ARE STEROIDS?

The use of steroids by baseball players has placed the substances in the headlines but there is more to steroids than just muscle building for athletes.

Steroids are compounds that include certain drugs of hormonal origin, such as cortisone, which is used to treat the inflammatins caused by allergies and glucocorticoids used to reduce white blood cell production. Oral contraceptives are steroids. Prostaglandins and leukotrienes are listed in the steroid category.

Prostaglandins are extemely potent hormonelike stubstances present in many tissues. There are more than 16 known with effects such as dilating or constricting blood vessels, stimulating intestinal or bronchial smooth muscle, uterine stimulation, antagonism to hormones, and influencing metabolism of fat. Various prostaglandins or drugs that affect prostaglandins are used medically to induce labor, prevent and treat peptic ulcers, control high blood pressure, treat brochial asthma, and induce delayed menstruation. Aspirin and other NSAIDs (non-steroidal) pain killers tend to inhibt prostaglandin production.

Leukotrienes are produced by cells that play a part in body reactions, such as inflammation and allergic reactions.

Natural and synthetic steroids have four rings of carbon atoms but have different actions according to what is attached to the rings.

Anabolic steroids related to male hormones, are the products used by some athletes who wish foolishly stimulate growth and weight gain, strength and appetite.The list of anabolic steroids includes: bolderone, closterbol, and many others usually with testosterone in the name.

The following toxic effects, all of which relate the the length and level of dosage, may occur:susceptibiity to infection, osteoporosis, muscle weakness and wasting, diabetes, high blood pressure due to sodium and water retention, weight gain, edema, bruising, moon face (round, swollen), psychotic reactions, hairness, menstrual disturbance, pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas), cataracts, and growth retardation. Anabolic steroids may cause liver damage and cancer. Anabolic steroids may alter many laboratory studies for up to three weeks after use has ceased.

Monday, March 14, 2005

POISONED CHILDREN SPOTLIGHT CARBAMATES

Laboratory tests showed that 27 Philippine school children who died after eating cassava root treats last week were poisoned with a carbamate pesticide, according to Philippine Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit. He told a news conference that the food was probably prepared in an environment that was highly toxic and contaminated with chemical poisons and bacteria. The vendors who sold sweetened cassava roots as recess snacks to the children--7 to 13 years--denied that they improperly prepared the food.

Cabamate pesticides are commonly used in farms and households not only in the Philippines but here and in many other countries.

Carbaryl (1-napthyl N-methylcarbamate) or ( 4F carbaryl ) trade name Sevin®, for example, is widely used in garden and lawn insect sprays and dusts; wasp and hornet sprays; snail and slug granules, pellets, and baits; flea and tick shampoos, powders, and sprays for dogs and cats. It is also used as a pesticide on apples, beans, grapes, oranges, pears, peas, tomatoes and corn and grains. The long term effects on humans and animals are not known. Carbaryl is extremely toxic to aquatic invertebrates and certain estuarine organisms. It is extremely toxic to honeybees. It is moderately toxic to both warm water and coldwater fishes and has only low toxicity to birds. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says carbaryl has a moderate to low toxicity in mammals. Based on established tolerances, the theoretical maximum residue contribution for carbaryl residues in the human diet is calculated to be 5.48 mg/day. The acceptable daily intake (ADI) of carbaryl is 0.1 mg/kg/day. The maximum permissible intake (MPI) is 6 mg/day, according to the US government. A one year dog feeding study is being requested in order to determine the effects of carbaryl on kidney dysfunction. The results of these data may require that the ADI for carbaryl be recalculated, according to the EPA.

Among other carbomate pesticides are aldicarb; 4-benzothienyl-N-methyl carbamate; bufencarb (BUX); carbaryl; carbofuran; isolan; 2-isopropyl phenyl-N-methyl carbamate; 3-isopropyl phenylmethyl carbamate; maneb; propoxur; thiram; Zectran; zineb, and ziram. Carbamic acid from which the pesticides are derived, is colorless and odorless, causes depression of bone marrow and degeneration of the brain, nausea, vomiting. Unlike the event in the Philippines, we have not had a mass disaster involving children ingesting an acute, fatal dose of a carbamate but what are the long term effects of carbamate residues any of us eat on our produce, inhale or get it on our skins?

Another common carbamate we may ingest is ethyl carbamate---better known as Urethane®. It is used as an intermediate in the synthesis of a number of chemicals. It is also a chemical substance that forms naturally during the fermentation process and thus has been a potential problem in wine making and distilled spirits, according to the FDA. The agency provides advice for preventing its formation in wine making. Acute (short-term) exposure of humans to high levels of ethyl carbamate may result in injury to the kidneys and liver and induce vomiting, coma, or hemorrhages. No information is available on the chronic (long-term), reproductive, or developmental effects of ethyl carbamate in humans.An increased incidence of lung tumors has been observed in rodents exposed to ethyl carbamate by oral or inhalation exposure. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified ethyl carbamate as a Group 2B, possibly carcinogenic to humans.

You may not be able to do anything about residues on what you buy in the supermarket unless you have certified organic produce, which is usually more expensive. If you can't afford it, you can certainly thoroughly wash your fruits and vegetables in running water in an effort---perhaps futile--to reduce the amount of carbamates you take in. You can, however, make an effort to avoid the use of carbamate-containing pesticides around your home and garden. If there are no alternative methods available to you, read the labels carefully and precisely follow the directions.

Better choices for house, garden and pets, in many cases, are the natural insecticides obtained by extraction of the chrysanthemum flowers, the pyrethrins. They usually have "safe for humans and animals" somewhere on the label. They may, however, cause allergic reactions in the sensitive.

Thursday, March 10, 2005

WHO PUT THE EXPLOSIVES IN SOME BREAST MILK

Texas Tech University researchers recently announce they had tested breast milk from 18 women around the country and found perchlorate in all 18 samples along with 46 of 47 dairy milk samples. If they had done studies in those women and their animals, they would undoubtedly have found perchlorate in their body fat. It is one of many fat soluble toxic chemicals to which even babies at their mother's breasts may be exposed.

What is perchlorate?

When sodium or potassium is added to perchlorate, you have industrial explosives including one used for rocket fuel. Wastes from the manufacture and improper disposal of perchlorate-containing chemicals are increasingly being discovered in soil and water.

There have been confirmed perchlorate releases in at least 25 states throughout the United States. EPA, other federal agencies, states, water suppliers and industry are working to address perchlorate contamination through monitoring for perchlorate in drinking water and source water and developing treatment technologies that can remove perchlorate from drinking water.

In the meantime, why worry? The potential effects of exposure to the chemicals such as perchlorate and its many chemical relatives are known to have the ability to cause cancer and some are able to impair the immune system. Others, termed hormone disruptors or endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), are known to interfere with the normal functioning of the bodies own hormones, or chemical messengers. It is certainly particularly worrying that animal experiments show that if early life forms are exposed to hormone disrupting substances, when they are being programmed to control and respond to the hormone signals throughout life, then a whole series of irreversible effects can occur. For example, in the womb exposure to sex hormone disrupting substances can particularly compromise the ability of that offspring to reproduce later in life, while exposure to other hormone disrupting substances, such as thyroid hormone disruptors, can de-rail normal brain function. Animal experiments have shown that exposure to low doses of numerous environmental toxic agents, during the neonatal period of rapid brain growth (or brain growth spurt), can lead to disruption of adult brain function and increase the susceptibility to toxic agents in later life. In humans, this period of rapid brain growth starts during the third trimester of pregnancy and continues throughout the first two years of life.

And if you are the oldest of your siblings, you may be at disadvantage. With regard to the toxic substances in breast milk, first born infants are thought to be at a higher risk than subsequent children, because mothers tend to excrete the largest proportion of their body burden of contaminants during their first lactation . Premature and low birth weight infants may also be particularly at risk because they have less fat tissue for the storage of fat-dwelling chemicals, which may mean that these toxins are present at higher concentrations in their vital organs.

Sunday, March 06, 2005

VITAMINS AGAINST AGING SKIN

The quest for the Fountain of Youth continues at a frantic pace, especially with the popularity of knife and dental drill wielding doctors on television.Let's considerless drastic promotions such as the use of vitamins in antiaging creams. While the prices may have changed, the last time I looked at advertisements, I found the following:

• Dove's Essential Nutrients™. For skin "so healthy it glows" contains Vitamins A, E and B5, Zinc, Nutrient Lipids, Green Tea Extract, and Pure Spring Water (1.69 fl. Oz $6.99).
• Ponds Anti-Wrinkle cream contains Alpha Hydroxy, Retinol (vitamin A derivative) and Vitamin C to fight signs of aging
• Rite-Aid's Anti-wrinkle Cream is a combination of Pro-Vitamin B5, Vitamin E. (1.4 oz. $8.95) and L'Oreal Dermo-Expertise Hydra-Renewal Daily Dry Skin Cream With Pro-Vitamin B5 (1.7 oz $7.29).
• Z. Bigatti Delicate Intensive Moisturizing Facial Treatment provides "skin rejuvenation" with "an infusion of multiple vitamins, superoxide dismutase, and antioxidants for anti-aging benefits and moisture retention" (2 oz. $150.00).
• Arovita C Cream from Darphin Botanical sold by Neiman Marcus contains "retinol (vitamin A), to fight free radicals; vitamins C, E, and B5, to stimulate cell regeneration" as well as the herbs, "gingko biloba and ginseng, to firm and moisturize and jujubier to promote oxygenation of cells. " ($130 no size given).

All the above can be purchased on the Internet as well as in stores. Vitamins C and E are well proven antioxidants and A, of course, helps peel the top layers of skin. There is evidence that antioxidants fight free radicals, the molecules believed to play a role in the development of aging. Exposures to oxygen and to rays of the sun are among the conditions that can produce damaging free radicals so you can see why Vitamins C and E are also being promoted in sunscreens.

but they cost a lot less than plastic or dental surgery and you don't have to recover from the discomfort an operation. If you believe you look younger after slathering a cream on your face every day, well that "non-extreme makeover" may be worth it.

As for the Fountain of Youth, we're still looking!

Friday, March 04, 2005

HIDDEN SUGAR AND SALT

A rose by any other name may smell as sweet but sugar and salt ingredients under various names may affect your health---especially if you have diabetes or high blood pressure. Some ingredients may be listed on the label and some may not and even those designated may be confusing.

SUGAR

Made up of one, two, or more saccharose groups. The monosaccharide sugars---often called simple sugars---include glucose, dextrose, fructose, and levulose. The disaccharides include sucrose---cane or beet sugar---lactose found in milk, maltose found in starch, and cellobiose from cellulose. Sugars may also occur in gums such as arabic and tragacanth. Sugar is used in processed foods for more than sweetening. It acts as a tenderizer by absorbing water and inhibiting flour gluten development, as well as slowing down starch gelling. It mixes with air into shortening in the creaming process and carmelizes under heat, to provide cooked foods with a pleasing color and aroma. It has many other uses. A teaspoon of common table sugar is 16 calories. Many so-called "dietetic" foods that are labeled "sugar free" or "no sugar added" in fact contain sugar alcohols. they have less calories than table sugar but can raise blood sugar and if eaten in large quantities may have a laxative effect. "Low calorie" on the labels means fewer than 40 calories per serving.

SALT
A compound formed by the interaction of an acid and a base. Sodium chloride or common table salt is an example. Sodium combinations in food processing and additives are numerous. Sodium aluminosilicate, for example, is an anticaking agent used in dried eggs and grated cheese. Sodium aluminum sulfate is used as a flour-bleaching additive and sodium acetate is used in many prodcts as a preservative, flavoring and acid-alkali control."Low sodium" on the label means 140 mg or fewer per serving. "Very low sodium", fewer than 35 mg per serving and "sodium free", fewer than 5 mg.

Does any federal agency check the actual amount of sugar and salt in processed foods listed on the label or during processing? If you want to reduce your salt and sugar intake,you have to become knowledgeable about the hidden sugar and salt in your food.