what’s really on your plate?

WHAT’S REALLY ON

YOUR PLATE?

•The direct impact of the food you eat is it builds your cells.

•Your cells build your tissues. Your tissues build your organs. Your organ systems allow you to live your life. Do you think food matters?

Warm-up• Do you think food additives/chemicals added

to the food are as dangerous as smoking?• Do you read the labels on the products? Do

you understand the contents/ingredients? • Why are food additives used? • Why are organic foods growing popularity?

Food Additives•  Food additive is a substance added to foods to improve its certain characteristics such as color, aroma, consistency, taste, packaging and shelf life. Additives are not generally considered nutritional even if they have some nutritional value.

The Most Dangerous Food Additives• aspartame• hydrogenated vegetable oil • artificial coloring • propyl gallate • MSG• sodium nitrite • BHA and BHT• olestra and saccharin

Why should we be concerned about these additives?

• Because they cause cancer, brain cell death, brain tumours, seizures, strokes, headaches and heart diseases.

Useful vocabulary before reading• nutrition/ malnutrition/poor nutrition• ingredient• natural/artificial ingredients• food preservation• preserve• prevent food from spoiling• natural preservatives (sugar/honey/salt)

• pure/natural• use additive(s)• add/addition• Artificial

food/intelligence/sweetener/flavoring and coloring/gassing tricks (to make tomatoes turn red, ripe)

• synthetic food dyes

• Adulterate (make impure or of poor quality by adding other substances)The company is accused of adulterating its products with cheap additives.

• food/drink adulteration• Adulterated food• Tasty/delicious/appetizing/flavorful• Processed food (hot dog, ham…)

TARGET VOCABULARYMold (n): the greenish substance that grows on old food

Controversy(n):argument,debateControversy began over the use of chemicals.

Fake (adj) x original=genuine

contaminate (v): to make a substance dirty/impure by putting chemicals or poison in it

Our water supplies are contaminated due to chemicals from factories.

conglomeration (n): a group of different things that are gathered/collected together: conglomeration of health organizations /schools/tribes

ingest (v): take food or other substances into your body

Metabolize (v): to change food in your body into energy and new cells

• To be loaded with smt: to be full of smt/containing a lot of smt

snacks loaded with fat paintings loaded with cultural significance

• Pose (v): cause/present a danger, problem

pose a threat/danger/risk

• (Pesticide) residue: a substance that cannot be removed easily/that remains after a chemical process

• Palate (n): sense of taste “It tasted very strange to my palate.”

• Flavor (n): taste of a food “Which flavor do you want? Chocolate or vanilla?”

• Flavorful (adj) delicious• Appetizing (adj): food that look beautiful and

makes you want to eat it: “The food wasn’t really appetizing so I pretended to eat.”

EXTRA WORDS IN THE TEXT

• Adulterated food: food that contains chemical substances

• Regulation (n): an official rule or order “Under the new regulations, all staff has to

have safety training.” new regulations on parking

• Thorn leaf

•Ash tree

•Stiffen (v): to make a material stiff so it will not bend easily

“I had to cut quickly before the dough stiffened.”

• tint (v) : to slightly change the color of something

“Her hair is cut and tinted.”

• Grated cheese

• Preserve (v): to store food for a long time after putting some substances so that it will not decay

“In past times, people preserved meat by drying and putting salt.”

Preservation (n)

• Long haul

• Taste bud

• Plump tomato

Give off (phr.v.): to produce a smell, light, heat, a sound etc.

internal (inside) (adj) x external (outside)

ripen (v): to become ripe“The apples were ripening on the trees.”

Additive (n): a substance that is added to food to improve its taste/appearance “Our products are free from artificial additives.”

spoil (v):decay“Some vegetables and fruit will spoil if you don’t keep them in your fridge.”

Substitute (n/v):a person or thing that you use instead of the one that you usually have, because the usual one is not available a sugar substitute

Enhance (v): improve something“Good lighting will enhance my room.”Decline (v): to decrease in quantity or importance “Car sales have declined remarkably.”

Mental retardation

Dizziness (n)Feeling dizzy (adj)

Bologna (n)

Seizure (n): a sudden attack or convulsion

Processed food

Focus Questions1. what are some historical examples of

food adulteration?

2. What are some purposes of food additives?

3. what are the three unsafe additives discussed? Describe them briefly.

Skimming and scanning for details

• 1. Additives are put into food to make things lighter, tastier,easier to prepare, last longer, look more appetizing and more pleasing to the palate.

• 2. Tea was adulterated in 18th century London because it was brought all the way from China and was very expensive.

• 3. Artificial gassing tricks the tomato into turning red so that it looks ripe, but it doesn’t have the flavor of a ripe tomato.

4. Antioxidants are added to oil-containing foods to prevent the oil from spoiling.

• Chelating agents stop food from discoloring.

• Emulsifiers keep oil and water mixed together.

• Flavor enhancers improve the natural flavor of foods.

• Tickening agents absorb some of the water present in food and make food thicker. They also keep oil, water and solids well mixed.

The End