The principal "weird ingredients" in our food can be largely segregated into preservatives, thickeners, and emulsifiers. Preservatives have been very heavily scrutinized because their purpose is, essentially, to kill things or stop them growing, so they're obviously potentially dangerous. The list of acceptable preservatives has been essentially whittled down to sorbate, propionate, sulfite and benzoate, and propionate might get the axe pretty soon.

Thickeners and emulsifiers are subject to basic biochemical tests in vivo and in vitro before being allowed in food, and those tests have generally proven them to be safe. But what worries me sometimes is that people focus too much on the chemistry of these compounds and not so much on the mechanics. Thickeners thicken liquids and emulsifiers mix them. The gut is not just a reaction flask; it's sheathed in muscle and innervated in such a way as to be responsive to the forces within it -- to continue peristalsis.

Then again, a surprising amount of irritation can be traced back to a single, innocuous, natural and very popular ingredient that happens to be a lot more irritating -- specifically, it produces gas -- than people give it credit for: garlic powder.

https://www.monashfodmap.com/blog/cooking-with-onion-and-gar...