Additives & preservatives | The new dirty dozen

Rashmi Mukherjee knew all the old villains—maida, excess sugar and trans fats—the familiar markers of food best kept to a minimum. So, chips and packaged biscuits disappeared from her 13-year-old’s diet, and in came granola bars, multigrain snacks, protein products and treats labelled ‘no added sugar’. That was until the 45-year-old boutique hotel manager in Gurugram began turning the packets over. Only to find words like maltodextrin, glucose-fructose syrup, protein isolates, emulsifiers, modified starches and unfamiliar sweeteners appear on foods she had assumed were the better choice. “I never thought I would have to read every ingredient on the back,” she says.