In Norway there's a cake topping whose name is "silver spheres," which contains the additive E173, also known as aluminium. I find that to be a bit disturbing, since while gold is known to be rather inert and harmless, isn't aluminium kind of... toxic to us?,(reply>), @Dirty Poul No problem.,(reply>), @Tommy Thai I agree completely. I apologise for not being able to express myself clearly. You see, English is not my native language.,(reply>), @Dirty Poul No, E numbers are not unhealthy or healthy for the body, they are simply food additives approved for use in the European Union.<br>And sodium is completely different as sodium chloride salt. It behaves very different chemically since it's a compound not in it's elemental form. Any element that forms a compound behaves completely differently as a compound. You are right though that sodium wants to be in ionic form but that is not pure sodium, this ionic form is harmless. You are also correct that we require sodium in our bodies for many purposes, but you'll also find that pure sodium Na isn't present in our bodies. It's present in compounds and in ionic form only.,(reply>), I don't believe aluminium is toxic, it certainly is highly reactive though.,(reply>), It is disturbing considering the growing link between Aluminium and alzheimers (still not totally proven yet), unless the Aluminium is in a compound that digestive processes don't release or something.