I have always maintained somewhat of a healthy diet (balanced meals, fruits, vegetables, etc.); however, I've recently become somewhat obsessive about reading labels on the things that I eat and have been trying to avoid eating items that contain preservatives, processed ingredients or other unnatural components because I am afraid (or I have read) that they can cause cancer.

At what rate/how often does one have to consume these potentially carcinogenic substances (such as BHT/other preservatives, carrageenan, red meat) to put themselves at risk? Daily for several years? A few times? I get worried when I read the label of something I ate and notice that it contains BHT or something. Am I worrying too much or will small amounts of this stuff put me at risk?

Thank you for your time.

You are worrying too much.

They are simply not allowed to put anything which is a known carcinogen in food or food products. Sometimes, after looking at population studies, they decide that people who eat a lot of a certain food seem to be more prone to certain cancers, but that absolutely does not mean that the food is the cause.

For instance, looking at population studies, coffee looks like a very bad risk. The trouble is, the people who drink a lot of coffee also tend to eat a lot of donuts and smoke cigarettes. When they looked at non-smoking, non-donut eating coffee drinkers, they found coffee has significant health benefits.

You also have to be aware of how reports are phrased. There was a lot of publicity linking meat to bowel cancer. But if you read it carefully, the meat was processed meat (deli and bacon and salami type), not a nice fresh steak.

In general, just eat the best quality food you can find, and don't worry too much if you have the odd bit of junk. The human body has a huge ability to cope with food which is not perfect and to excrete it without being damaged.

Yes, heck water is bad in some reports. You can find a report that will make even natural things bad.