Question

talk about BHT as a food additive

a)introduction about BHT
b) Application (examples of food products containing BHT ex: bread, meat, beverages..), amounts used per serving....)
c) Discussion about BHT (Toxicity (animal experiments, human toxicity testing if applicable) , doses + effects)
d) conclusion (your opinion on whether the additive BHT should be banned or not , if yes propose substitutes)

Answer 1

Introduction

BHT or Butylated hydroxytoluene is a food preservative. It is derived from phenol. BHT is also called dibutylhydroxytoluene. BHT . As per USFDA, this preservative comes under GRAS or "generally recognized as safe' when added to food in small quantities. Even though drug regulatory agency do not approve BHT as an antiviral drug, some reports suggests that BHT have antiviral properties. Naturally, BHT is present in some  green algae and cyanobacteria.

Applications

BHT is widely used as a food additive. It prevents the spoilage of food. In keep the food items fresh. It is used as a preservative in meat products and butter. Other important food items preserved by using BHT includes cereals, baked and snack foods, chewing gums and dehydrated potatoes, beer and animal feeds. It is also used in cosmetics and food packaging. BHT can resist rancidity of fats

Discussion

BHT is known of its very low acute toxicity. It has an  LD₅₀ of >9 g/kg. Even though BHT is recognized as safe, some of the reports suggests the potential heath hazards of this food preservative including carcinogenicity. It is known to cause hyperplasia of the hepatic bile ducts in mice when a dose of 0.75% BHT is used. BHT also cause alteration of enzyme properties (eg. increase in nitroanisole demethylase activity, decrease in glucose 6-phosphatase and acid phosphatase) in various experimental organisms. Another report on the effect of BHT include, altered levels of lipids. BHT when consumed at a heavy dose, it can damage liver, kidneys and lungs. However, experiments in fishes shows that 150–1500 mg/kg in diet can  protecting hepatic cells from injury and increase the Reactive Oxygen Species production. Since contradictions exist on the effect of BHT on human health, banning it or further use of the BHT as food addictive should be based on scientific evidences. Therefore more researches are needed to understand the actual effect of BHT in humans.