Tim Tams Banned in most countries....

Well, this is an interesting one. We know from being in the 'eco' industry that the Australian government has an appalling record in informing & protecting it's citizens from bad chemicals, additives, and other nasties banned in the rest of the world, but this is a new one to us that a customer brought to our attention.

(Our favourite quote found while researching: Food and the Australian federal election International Registry of Food Additive Reactions (IRFAR) Research: "UK study confirms harmful effects of additives: Network astonished by lack of response from Australian/New Zealand regulators".

Being curious little demons we did a little further digging, and what do you know, most other countries have actively banned Timtam's because of dangerous food additives.

In fact , FIVE additives banned in most countries outside Australia!

At least three of them: E102, E110, E120 have seriously bad side effects and long-term health effects. Not going to harp on here about these, go and look up the effects yourself and you will see why they have been banned from import in most countries.

Any of your kids have unexplained rashes, hyperactivity, constant illnesses, asthma etc...? Could well be due to these additives.

(While we are on the subject, all insect sprays in your house - again, banned in most countries as HIGHLY HARMFUL TO HUMANS - could also be responsible for the above symptoms - check out: http://www.ecopestproducts.com.au/).

There is also a 5% loophole in Australian law, which allows manufacturers to get away with not listing 5% of the additives in their product. This is regardless of how toxic the chemical is to human health including pregnant and breast feeding women, babies and school children. Even though the labelling can state that there are no added artificial flavouring or colouring agents used, this information can be very misleading. It's all about the money of course.

We won't be eating Timtam's again (yes we know they taste nice, but we would prefer a healthy life)...and suggest you don't either. In fact, if a product has numbers in it's ingredients you should probably avoid them altogether, whatever the product.

Timtams just seem a little scarier than the others as they are so widely eaten...

Some further reading:

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw-act/kids-at-risk-from-harmful-food/story-e6freuzi-1111116369332

http://www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info/newsletters/contents.htm

http://www.ecohealthguru.com/?p=94