Artificial Seasoning Cubes; Harmful Food Additives

Seasoning cubes has formed a great aspect in most Nigerian kitchen with thousands of them sold out on daily basis. Seasoning cubes are usually referred to as Maggi by many although it’s a brand name of a particular seasoning. A larger percentage of the entire populace are familiar with seasoning cubes; hardly will one cook without adding a seasoning cube or two. These seasonings have swiped out the traditional and natural spices formerly used such as locust beans (Iru in Yoruba, Ogiri in Igbo and Dawa dawa in Hausa), Crayfish and Onions which are healthy and have nutritional values.

Many consumers of these seasonings consume them without being aware of the health effects they may have. It is no doubt that it enhances the tastes and flavours of meals, but a long term and excessive consumption of these cubes can pose a detrimental effect on the body system.

A good way to know the possible effects of the seasonings is by examining the ingredients from which they are produced. The primary ingredients in most of these seasonings cubes are salt, sugar, monosodium glutamate (MSG), hydrogenated oil (saturated fat), cornstarch and preservatives. As one will observe there is almost nothing natural; the combination of these ingredients has made our taste buds accustomed to and crave for the taste of seasoning in our meals.

Salt is a primary ingredient; it is wide known that excess salt consumption through diets is harmful to the body system and can lead to various diseases. Of course, the percentage of salts in seasoning cubes might not be excessive but people usually add several of these cubes with additional salts. Basil Okeahialam, a Professor of cardiology University of Jos said in an interview with Premium Times on 19 September 2017 that “if there is anybody who should cut down his or her salt in-take, it is an African because that is a key driver of hypertension. The African has the tendency to retain sodium in the body system and so if we take a lot of sodium in our diet, we retain most of it and when that happens, we expand our blood volume, which results in High Blood pressure”. The extra water fluids stored in the increases blood pressure, the high the salt consumed the higher the blood pressure and ultimately the greater the strain on the heart, arteries, kidneys and the brain. This can lead to various diseases which may include strokes, heart attack, dementia and kidney disease.

The quantities of sugar in these seasoning cubes might be very minimal but it gets built by increasing the number of cubes one uses. This is going to truncate the efforts of someone who is cutting down on sugar in-take. Such person should avoid or reduce consumptions of artificial seasoning cubes.

Another ingredient is the controversial monosodium glutamate (MSG); it’s controversial because there has been varying opinion on it. MSG has been found to be linked to several diseases such as fibromyalgia, liver inflammation, memory loss and migraines. Augustine Airaodun and his team in a research (Toxicological effect of MSG in seasonings on Human health) found out that MSG induce oxidative stress, renal and hepatoxicity, increases total protein and cholesterol and also induces fibroid. MSG increase the number of platelets, bleeding time and clotting time. It adversely upset some sex hormones: testosterones, estrogen and progesterone. It also leads to body weight and obesity.

Hydrogenated oils are once healthy oils which gets converted to its unhealthy saturated fatty acids. It is semi solid at room temperature and has been reported to increase LDL (bad cholesterol) and decrease HDL (good cholesterol).

Therefore, rather than using seasoning cubes which ingredients have been found to be implicated in so many diseases, it is advised that we cut down its intake and return to old ways of spicing our meals with locust beans (iru, ogiri, dawa dawa), crayfish among others. We should also embrace the use of spices made from Garlic, Ginger, Curry leaves, Tumeric and so on.

Ajadi Abdullah Olanrewaju is a graduate Biochemist (Federal University Dutsin-ma, Katsina State, Nigeria) whose area of interest is Clinical research. He is a freelance health writer and an advocate of natural medicine as a better alternative for health management.