Artists Note
I shot this series on 35mm film in 2024 when I lived in Washington, D.C.
After reading online about supposedly harmful food additives, I wanted to verify these claims.
After parsing through journal and news articles on the topic, I did find a selection of additives that research indicates are harmful. There were also other additives which, despite individuals online claiming that they were harmful, the research did not appear to support these claims. This series focuses on food additives with accompanying research indicating that they are harmful.
The sources to the research I cite are at the end of this page–I encourage you to read them yourself. You will find that the artist statements provided simplify and reference the information contained in these articles.
There are two disclaimers that I feel called to share to preface this series.
First, the purpose of this series is to educate others and to call for more strict food safety regulations. This series is not intended to shame people who consume these additives. These ingredients are prevalent and nearly impossible to avoid.
Second, this issue has been politicized in a sphere where it is being used as an excuse to support politicians with harmful ideologies. The reality is that this issue deserves bipartisan and nonpartisan interest. I urge voters to view political candidates as a whole rather than voting based solely on one issue.
What I have learned from creating this photographic series is that, while the internet can be a useful tool for sharing information, it can also be used to spread misinformation. As always, any research would benefit from additional studies being done to verify the integrity of its findings. Still, I think that the information that we currently have is worth investigating, discussing, and considering in regulatory decisions. With all this being said, I hope you enjoy "Reading the Back" and find it to be educational. I hope that reading my artist statements empowers others to look for the facts.
Megan Bainbridge
Overview
"Reading the Back" is a series where I photograph items found in the grocery store that contain ingredients that are restricted (or at least require warning labels) in countries across Europe due to health concerns.
I obscure the names of the food brands by painting a black and white 35mm negative (an homage to cliché-verre) and layering it with the color photograph I had taken.
As a third layer, I incorporate rubber-stamped text that references the ingredients of concern that I had found in the food product by reading the ingredients listed on its back.
This project is inspired by a concept from my childhood; whenever my family visited with our family in Germany, my mother would bring along a large, empty suitcase that she filled with chocolate from Germany to bring back to the U.S.
When I asked why, she said that even the German chocolates that were the same brand sold in the U.S. had different ingredients because Germany has higher standards for regulating ingredients put in food.
As a young adult, I have returned to this concept with questions about what my health would look like if I, too, grew up in Germany and grocery shopped there. On a larger scale, I question the health standards for food sold in the U.S.
According to U.S. Right to Know, a nonprofit public health research group, “A significant body of research, mostly from rodent models and in vitro studies, has linked titanium dioxide with health risks related to the gut, including intestinal inflammation, alterations to the gut microbiota, and more. It is classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in Group 2B, as possibly carcinogenic to humans.
As a food additive, titanium dioxide and its nanoparticles in particular have been associated with DNA damage and cell mutations, which in turn, have potential to cause cancer. When used as a food coloring, it is known as E171,” (Conley Titanium Dioxide, banned...)
Essentially, one of the most common food additives in the U.S. may cause cancer. The additive was banned as a food additive in the EU on January 18, 2022. According to the European Commission’s website, “[The European Food Safety Authority] does not rule out genotoxicity concerns," meaning that there is a possibility that the use of titanium dioxide as food additive might cause DNA or chromosomal damage.
In the EU, the fact that the safety of a food additive cannot be confirmed is sufficient to warrant a ban,” (Juelicher Goodbye E171: The...)
Works cited are listed at the end of this page (1)
According to “Toxicology of Food Dyes,” a 2012 review published in the International Journal of Occupational Environmental Health, “all of the nine currently US-approved dyes raise health concerns of varying degrees. Red 3 causes cancer in animals, and there is evidence that several other dyes also are carcinogenic. Three dyes (Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6) have been found to be contaminated with benzidine or other carcinogens. At least four dyes (Blue 1, Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6) cause hypersensitivity reactions,” (Kobylewski Toxicology of food...)
In addition, after a 2007 study at the University of Southampton found that “Artificial colours or a sodium benzoate preservative (or both) in the diet result in increased hyperactivity in 3-year-old and 8/9-year-old children in the general population,” the EU implemented a standard in 2010 that products that contain the six food dyes from the study (Allura Red (Red 40), Ponceau, Tartrazine (Yellow 5), Sunset Yellow (Yellow 6), Quinoline Yellow and Carmoisine) must include the following warning label: “may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children,” (McCann et al. Food additives and...; Evich Politico Pro: Europe...; Ma, Food Colours and...).
Works cited are listed at the end of this page (2)
A 2022 article from the journal Life states that the researchers “provide evidence that chronic, 20 day-long exposure to the food additive tBHQ changes gene activities related to immune response, apoptosis, endocytosis, and secretion (Németh et al. Chronic Exposure to...)
Similarly, a study published in the Food and Chemical Toxicology Journal in 2020 states that “The food additive tBHQ inhibits induction of CD25, CD69 and CD22 at low concentrations in LPS-stimulated B cells” and “the concentrations of tBHQ used in the current study are likely within the range of human exposure,” (Bursley and Rockwell, Nrf2-dependent and...).
Notably, as seen on tests conducted on mice, CD22 assists with the function of keeping humoral immunity in check, CD69 helps with anti-tumor immunity, and CD25 has “a major role in modulating the activity of self-reactive cells” (Ereño-Orbea Molecular basis of...; Mita et al. Crucial role of...; Valencia and Lipsky CD4+CD25+FoxP3+...).
In short, studies indicate that increased exposure to the food additive tBHQ is linked to weakened immunity in both body fluids and fighting tumors, as well as an increased risk of autoimmune/inflammatory responses.
The European Food Safety Authority states on its website that “TBHQ (E 319) is authorised as a food additive in the EU with an acceptable daily intake (ADI) of 0.7 mg/kg body weight (bw)” (EFSA ANS Panel Statement on the...) In contrast, the FDA does not have recommended acceptable daily intake. Unfortunately, TBHQ is allowed as a food additive in both the U.S. and the European Union.
Works cited are listed at the end of this page (3)
Works Cited (1)
Conley, Mikaela. “Titanium Dioxide, Banned in Europe, Is One of the Most Common Food Additives in the U.S.” U.S. Right to Know, U.S. Right to Know, 6 Jan. 2024, usrtk.org/chemicals/titanium- dioxide/.
Juelicher, Sabine. “Goodbye E171: The EU Bans Titanium Dioxide as a Food Additive.” Health and Food Safety - Goodbye E171: The EU Bans Titanium Dioxide as a Food Additive, European Commission, 18 Jan. 2022, ec.europa.eu/newsroom/sante/items/732079/en.
Works Cited (2)
Evich, Helena Bottemiller. “Politico pro: Europe Reaffirms Food Dye Safety Ahead of FDA Study.” Subscriber.Politicopro.Com, Politico LLC, 29 July 2014, subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2014/07/europe-reaffirms- food-dye-safety-ahead-of-fda-study-036814.
Kobylewski, Sarah, and Michael F. Jacobson. “Toxicology of food dyes.” International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, vol. 18, no. 3, 2012, pp. 220–246, https://doi.org/10.1179/1077352512z.00000000034.
Ma, Janny. “Food Colours and Hyperactivity in Children.” Food Colours and Hyperactivity in Children, Centre for Food Safety: The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, 16 Nov. 2018, www.cfs.gov.hk/english/multimedia/multimedia_pub/multimedi a_pub_fsf_48_01.html#:~:text=From%2020%20July%202010% 2C%20foods,contain%20certain%20artificial%20food%20colours.
McCann, Donna, et al. “Food additives and hyperactive behaviour in 3-year-old and 8/9-year-old children in the community: A randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial.” The Lancet, vol. 370, no. 9598, 6 Sept. 2007, pp. 1560–1567, https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(07)61306-3.
Works Cited (3)
Bursley, Jenna K., and Cheryl E. Rockwell. “Nrf2-dependent and - independent effects of TBHQ in activated murine B cells.” Food and Chemical Toxicology, vol. 145, 2020, p. 111595, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fct.2020.111595.
vol. 14, no. 1, 12 Jan. 2016, https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2016.4363.
Ereño-Orbea, June, et al. “Molecular basis of human CD22 function and therapeutic targeting.” Nature Communications, vol. 8, no. 1, 2017, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-00836-6.
Mita, Yukiyoshi, et al. “Crucial role of CD69 in anti-tumor immunity through regulating the exhaustion of tumor-infiltrating T cells.” International Immunology, vol. 30, no. 12, 2018, pp. 559–567, https://doi.org/10.1093/intimm/dxy050.
Németh, Krisztina, et al. “Chronic exposure to the food additive TBHQ modulates expression of genes related to SARS-COV-2 and influenza viruses.” Life, vol. 12, no. 5, 2022, p. 642, https://doi.org/10.3390/life12050642.
Valencia, Xavier, and Peter E Lipsky. “CD4+CD25+FoxP3+ regulatory T cells in autoimmune diseases.” Nature Clinical Practice Rheumatology, vol. 3, no. 11, Nov. 2007, pp. 619–626, https://doi.org/10.1038/ncprheum0624.
Please contact the author if the linked sources are no longer available online; the artist strives to maintain an offline archive of the sources she cites.
If you enjoyed this article and photo series, consider supporting my work. "Reading the Back" artwork is available on my shop website. I am also currently working on completing an informational, hand-assembled "Reading the Back" Zine print run.