By Jimmy Downs

Tuesday Dec 25, 2012 (foodconsumer.org) -- The ingredient list for M&M'S came from http://whatisthatingredient.com/product.php?id=8  The following comment gives readers some background of these ingredients in terms of their safety concerns, which some readers may be interested in knowing.

Milk Chocolate: Generally, milk chocolate does not provide compounds that you find in dark chocolate, which some research suggests provide some protection against heart disease.  So milk chocolate is intended to provide tastes and some nutrition value.   But this product may not be for a consumer who would only eat chocolate that provides heart protective benefits. Something like these healthy treats would be a better option for the health conscious.

SUGAR - often times, it refers to sucrose, it can be cane sugar or beet sugar.  The former is non-genetically modified and the latter in most cases has been genetically modified.  So the label does not provide any certain claim whether or not this sugar is GM food or not.  When in doubt, food consumers should consider the worse case, that is, assuming that it comes from genetically modified beet.

CHOCOLATE, COCOA BUTTER, - chocolate and cocoa butter are generally accepted as healthy.   But the heart protective benefit from these ingredients in milk chocolate is very limited compared with dark chocolate.

SKIM MILK, MILK FAT, - milk products are not for vegans for sure.  Rumor has it that milk produced in the U.S. is not allowed for sale in Europe and Canada because GM hormone is used to promote the production of milk.  Skim milk is often claimed to be a good source of calcium, but the better source of calcium is plant-based foods, some evidence suggests.  Milk fat contains naturally occurring trans fat that humans may not be able to adequately digest and use and thus it may pose some heart risk.

"Trans fat formed naturally - this type of trans fat is produced in the gut of some grazing animals. That’s why small quantities of trans fat can be found in animal products like milk, milk products and meat," the Food and Drug Administration states.

LACTOSE, - this ingredient is a simple type of sugar, which is similar to sucrose, but tastes much less sweet and many non-Westerners who are not used to milk may have some problem with digestion, a condition known as lactose intolerance, which may cause some discomfort after ingestion.

SOY LECITHIN, - this ingredient comes from soybeans. Because the overwhelming majority of soybean in America has been genetically modified and chances are good that the soybeans used to make soy lecithin are genetically modified.  Food consumers who pursue 100% organic need to avoid this ingredient.

SALT, - this ingredient is present in many processed foods.  It is the most powerful taste enhancer.  The problem is that some salt is not pure salt.  It may come with some additive like aluminum salt, which is neurotoxic.

ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS -  flavors can come with additives like nasty materials such as nanoparticles, which pose genotoxicity, and artificial solvents such as propylene glycol.

SUGAR, - see above.

CORNSTARTCH, CORN SYRUP, DEXTRIN, - they are likely derived from genetically modified corn.  Organic consumers should avoid these ingredients.

Coloring (,INCLUDES , BLUE 1 LAKE, RED 40 LAKE, YELLOW 6, YELLOW 5, RED 40, BLUE 1, BLUE 2 LAKE, YELLOW 6 LAKE, YELLOW 5 LAKE, BLUE 2) , - Any food dyes called lake contain extremely high levels of aluminum salts, which are neurotoxic.  Studies have associated with aluminum salts with brain disorders such as Alzheimer's disease and parkinson's disease.  Second of all, all artificial colors are toxic to some degree, according to a review article recently published in International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health.

S. Kobylewski  and M. F. Jacobson  from University of California in Los Angeles, California, USA reviewed the toxicology of food dyes and concluded that "all of the nine currently US-approved dyes raise health concerns of varying degrees."

Specifically, Red 3 has been found to cause cancer in animals, and evidence shows that several other food dyes also are carcinogenic.   Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6 have been found contaminated with benzidine or other carcinogens. 

Blue 1, Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6 cause hypersensitivity, meaning that some consumers may have sensitive issues with food containing these colors.

According to the authors, numerous microbiological and animal studies of Yellow 5 found the color causes genotoxicity.

 The authors suggest that old testing method are not adequate and the current evidence for carcinogenicity, genotoxicity, and hypersensitivity, and the fact that these food colors or dyes do not improve the safety of nutrition of foods together indicate that these currently used food colors should be removed from the food supply list and replaced with safer food colors.

GUM ACACIA, - this ingredient is the most consumer friendly among the ingredient list, and does not raise any concern.

M&M\'S© CANDIES MAY CONTAIN PEANUTS - the statement indicates that those who are allergic to peanuts should avoid M&M candies.

Overall, M&M chocolate candy is a very low end product in the writer's personal opinion.