The nutritional balance of advantage and disadvantage.

Problems that occur from the use of additives in food and the presence of contaminants that stem from their employment can be discussed from several points of view. Earlier papers in this symposium have concentrated primarily on the analytical difficulties of determining small concentrations of complex organic chemicals, on the toxicological hazards arising from the presence of trace concentrations of various compounds in food, and on the assessment of rational limits for permissible levels in diverse commodities and in the diet as a whole. The purpose of this paper is to consider the implications of the use of additives and of the inevitable hazards inherent in such use on the nutritional status of the community in which they are used.