Jesus, how the fuck is such a thing legal? Do you guys not have health and safety legislation over there?

Most food additives are considered safe ... However, some scientists have linked additives - particularly tartrazine or E102 - to hyperactivity in children, allergies, asthma, migraines and even cancer ... Nitrite and Nitrate: Meat preservatives that can form powerful cancer causing chemicals when heated ... Saccharin: linked to cancer is laboratory animals.

Myth number 1: The additives are safe
Expert-comments on chemical additives often result in cynical word-wars claiming how safe the synthetic additives are, especially when compared to natural toxins or other hazards like travelling by car or plane. To use comparisons between totally unrelated risks is a trick taught by consultants. Risk analysis as a concept has become widely known in the food industry. From the consumers perspective we are fighting to have the precautionary principle acknowledged as part of Risk analysis. One example of how positives can be weighed against negatives is Nitrite (E 249, E 250) and Nitrate (E 251, E 252); they are not usually allowed in Denmark although they may be used in Sweden in eg sausages. The Danish authorities base the prohibition on the fact that Nitrate/Nitrite can be converted to cancerogenic materials called Nitrosamines. Denmark's attempt to keep the country free from Nitrite has been criticised by experts in the European Commission. Seeing as Nitrite is an effective preservative, the industry has had a lot to gain in being allowed to continue using it.
Newer additives have also met strong criticism. Butylated hydroxyanisole (E 320) & Butylated hydroxytoulene (E 321) are two antioxidants listed as possible cancerogenic substances, according to WHO's cancer research. Avoid! The Azo colours are another example. They were prohibited in foods in Sweden but since joining the EU in 1995, Sweden has been forced to accept imported goods containing these colours, despite that they can cause allergic reactions in many people. EU's experts decided that there was too little evidence to prohibit them. Swedish Consumer Coalition did, however, manage to convince the Swedish food manufacturers to not use the Azo colours. A survey done in 1998 showed that 11% of candy in average shops contained the previously banned colours. A new survey done in 2001 published by the food manufacturing industry, showed that the Azo colours appear in 14 % of candy, fizzy drinks and snacks.

Cancer and sterility linked to food additives says doctor in China
(http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=6857)
Main Category: Public Health News
Article Date: 28 Mar 2004 - 0:00am (PDT)
According to a doctor in China, chemicals and additives which are put into foods are responsible for the increase in cancers and sterility in China.
Professor Zhong Nanshan, director of the Centre for Respiratory Illness in southern Guangdong province, said in the Beijing Daily that there was a sharp increase in many cancers among women in the city of Guangzhou. The cancers that showed a marked increase were ovarian, uterine and intestine cancers.
Male sperm counts are half now what they used to be forty years ago in his province.
As the use of chemical fertilizers, additives, preservatives and hormones in food production increase, so do the numbers of cancers and drop in sperm counts. He says the changes are directly related.
He said the authorities should have more power to control food quality.
His report, however, did not include details of his findings.

(http://www.businessweek.com/1996/19/b3474101.htm)
Several additives are suspected carcinogens. Take butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT). Food companies use these similar chemical substances to prevent spoilage in foods with oil or shortening and to preserve many breakfast cereals (from Total to Quaker Instant Oatmeal), enriched rice products, and dried soups. Repeated studies have shown that BHA and BHT increase the risk of cancer as well as accumulate in body tissue, cause liver enlargement, and retard the rate of DNA synthesis and thus, cell development. However, one study, released in 1994, suggests these same additives may actually retard cancer development because of their antioxidant properties....
The evidence is less controvertible in the case of nitrates and nitrites, which prevent botulism in and enhance flavor and color of such meat products as processed turkey, ham, hot dogs, bologna, and bacon. They aren't carcinogenic by themselves, but when they pair with chemicals called amines, they become an extremely potent cancer-causing chemical known as nitrosamine. Amines occur naturally both in food and in the body and bind readily with nitrates and nitrites at high temperatures such as when frying bacon or roasting ham.