Preservatives: It all sounds creepy to this new mum

Nicola Shepheard says having baby Greer has made her think more about what's in food. Photo / Janna Dixon

Auckland journalist and new mum Nicola Shepheard has always been keenly interested in health and the environment, and even more so since the birth of 4-month-old daughter Greer.

Reports of the long-lasting preservative power of bisin sound "creepy", she says.

"I would imagine something which kind of distorts the biochemistry of food wouldn't be easy to digest. It seems to fly in the face of the movement towards locally grown food and slow food.

"It brings to mind a story I heard about the Christchurch earthquake, that food in some bakeries in the Red Zone was still intact months later because of all the preservatives in it. It makes your skin crawl."

Shepheard says she is "no purist" when it comes to food, although given the option she would always choose fresh over preserved and having a child has heightened that awareness.

"I don't see food chemistry per se as a bad thing. But I do try to minimise the amount of food I eat with preservatives and food colouring in it. I prefer to get nutrition from raw, unmodified food.

"Greer is still too young for solids, but I am starting to think about what I should feed her and whether to shell out extra money for organics. I think I will become even more attuned to what we eat, and I definitely support full labelling of ingredients."

Shepheard accepts there is a role for preservatives in food, part of which could be to cut down on spoilage and wastage and help to feed more of the world's population.

"But there are larger reasons for why we have hunger and famine. It's more to do with geopolitics rather than food shortages - the realpolitik of the world. I think in the West, in New Zealand, if you can afford it, it's good to steer clear of preservatives, and to eat more food which is less modified."