You may be surprised when looking at the food on your table.

Connie Bryan from On-Site Health Solutions spoke with Tricia Sloma on 16 Morning News about ways to avoid unhealthy food additives.

Bryan says the FDA has logged over 3,000 food additives in our food, and research has shown that some additives, like those in lunch meats and other salty foods, may be shortening life spans by breeding not only cancer, but heart disease, and diabetes.

Some additives, however, can be good for you, like Vitamin C.

Common Food Additives:

Carmel coloring
Found in: Soda, Soy sauce, Stuffing mixes
Purpose: Food coloring
Top concern: Linked to cancer in mice when created with ammonia

Potassium Bromate
Found in: Breads
Purpose: To make bread "puffy"
Top concern: Linked to thyroid and kidney cancer; banned in several countries

BHA and BHT
Found in: Cereals, lard, and gum
Purpose: As a preservative
Top concern: Dept. of HHS calls it "reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen"

Cochineal Extract or Carmine
Found in: Artificial crab meat, fruit juices, fruit snacks, candy, yogurt
Purpose: Food coloring
Top concern: Extracted from the bodies and dried eggs of a female beetle-like insect; problematic for unsuspecting vegetarians and allergic individuals

In order to weed out the good from the bad and eat healthier, here are some helpful recommendations from Bryan:

• Eat like a caveman-- Eat more nuts, fruits, berries, fresh vegetables and fish.
• Read labels and get to know ingredients-- If your label looks like a science experiment, you may want to avoid it.
• Limit dining out and stick to "fresh" menu items.
• Shop your local farmers market.

For more information head to the Big Red Bar, where we have links to On-Site Health Solutions and the FDA's EAFUS (Everything Added to Food in the United States) list.