ATHENS, Sept. 27 (Xinhuanet) -- Greeks consume up to five kilograms of additives per capita through the food they eat every year, Greek scientists warned in an announcement on Tuesday.
They stressed that even the most innocent family meal might contain dozens of artificial chemicals in the form of flavorings, preservatives and colorings, whose long-term effects on human health were largely unknown.
Andreas Constantopoulos, President of the Hellenic Paediatric Society, urged parents to be particularly careful in choosing what to feed their children, pointing out that children were particularly susceptible to advertising pressures and loved to eat foods that were high in colors, flavorings and low-quality saturated fats but low in nutritious value.
He also pointed to repeated cases where food additives that had been in use for years were later implicated as a cause of cancer and withdrawn.
He said the trend toward an unhealthy diet was reflected in the deteriorating biochemical indicators among Greek children, with three in five recorded as obese and one in four having high levels of cholesterol and blood sugar for their age.
Scientists also urged parents to be particularly careful about the use of dietary supplements taken by teenage children to achieve a "balanced" diet and to enhance performance in sport, noting that 11 million dietary supplements are consumed in Greece every year. Enditem
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