Why are we scared of chemical names?

This week, I’m going to write about topics that are often talked about but from a different perspective.

What do Janet, Mariah, Atif, Juhi, Steven, Troy, and Mark have in common? They are all names of people. What do H20, Sodium Benzoate, Tocopherols, and Ascorbic Acid have in common? They are all chemical names so why are we scared of them? Is the movement for clean labels and words we can say that important for our health and well being?

Everything is a chemical including water or H20. If packaging said H20, would you be less likely to pick it up? Similarly, if a box said tocopherols instead of Vitamin E, would you be less likely to pick it up? Yes, complex names are often a deterrent when eating foods because we should be eating whole foods and foods that we cook but not many of us have the time or the luxury of doing that because eating clean and healthy is expensive, as discussed in earlier posts. So what should you do?

Don’t demonize chemical names. Often times, a manufacturer lists the chemical name to differentiate what the source of a vitamin or mineral is. For example, Vitamin C can be listed as Ascorbic Acid as well as Sodium Ascorbate, both of which help you to get the Vitamin C that you need. 

A food that has chemical sounding names should be looked at in terms of what is acceptable to be there and not. If it is being fortified, then that is good because it will help you get your RDA (recommended daily allowance) for that item but if it is being used as a preservative or shelf stabilizer than it probably is something you can be iffy about but that too depends on what you are consuming.

When unsure about something, take the time to research/Google what it is that you don’t like about the product because of times that chemical sounding name is there to help you meet your RDA.