Additives are used for flavor and appeal, food preparation and processing, freshness, and safety. At the same time, consumers and scientists have raised questions about the necessity and safety of these substances. Some additives are used for more than one purpose. Because food additives are closely regulated by the FDA, they cannot be used to cover up or deceive the consumer. The food additive intended for use in a product must have a purpose. Here are the major uses of food additives.
One of the main functions of additives is to preserve food. Without the addition of these additives, products would spoil at a more accelerated rate than would be expected by the consumer. In order to achieve "freshness," additives are added to ensure that bread does not arrive at the grocery store moldy or that milk does not have sour or off-flavors. Preservatives used to control microbial growth include organic acids and their salts, sulfites, nitrites, parabens, and others.
Enriching foods with nutrients is another function of food additives. Nutrients are added in amounts that do not exceed those found in the food before processing. Cereal products are a prime example of an enriched food to restore the original amount of nutrients prior to processing. Bread is another example in which the B-complex vitamins of thiamine B1 , riboflavin B2 and niacin B3 are added to ensure proper proportions of these nutrients are present in the final product.
The color of food may be natural or artificial. This is too small to measure and the volume is made up by a bulking agent.
Sometimes this is an ingredient like maltodextrin and sometimes an additive. Emulsifiers are used to help maintain homogenous mixtures of oil and water. Egg yolk provides this role in traditional mayonnaise. The main active ingredient in egg yolk, lecithin, is now available from a number of sources including soya and sunflower.
The most common emulsifier, mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids, E , is derived from fats triglycerides , both animal and vegetable, and is used for fat spreads, in bakery products and a range of other products. Other emulsifiers derived from the mono- and diglycerides interact with gluten and are used in breads.
Emulsifying salts are specifically used in the production of processed cheese, to make the proteins more soluble and enable the formation of a cheese spread. Firming agents are used to interact with the tissues of bottled or pickled fruit and vegetables, to keep them crisp during storage. Flavour enhancers do exactly that. Specifically, they enhance the meaty taste of meat dishes. The most common flavour enhancer is monosodium glutamate, which is naturally present in a number of foods including seaweeds and tomatoes.
Gelling agents are substances which give a foodstuff texture through formation of a gel. Examples are carrageenan and agar, which form gels with milk proteins. Glazing agents are applied to the external surface of a foodstuff in order to impart a shiny appearance or provide a protective coating, particularly to individual sweets. There are a range of glazing agents; those which are softer like beeswax are easier to apply, while harder materials like carnauba wax are more difficult to apply but give a longer-lasting shine.
Humectants are substances that prevent foods from drying out during storage. Glycerol or glycerine is the most common humectant.
It is, for example, added to cake icing or frosting to keep the icing softer for longer. Modified starches are used to provide texture to foodstuffs. The term refers to chemically treated edible starches, which may have also have undergone physical or enzymatic treatment. Starches can provide a number of different textures — some thicken on heating while others become thinner like corn starch.
Some give a smooth thick texture while others can give a similar texture to fruit pulp. A number of modified starches are additives with E numbers in the s but since the trend to decrease the number of additives on ingredient labels they have largely been replaced by physically or enzymatically treated starches that are considered ingredients and do not require an E number.
Packaging gases are generally used to change the atmosphere inside a package in order to decrease the growth rate of micro-organisms and extend the shelf life of food products. The most common gases are carbon dioxide and nitrogen, although nitrous oxide has a particular use in instant whipped cream. In this case the gas also acts to create the foam and expel it from the canister. Propellants are the gases, other than air, that are used in aerosols to propel the foodstuff from the container.
Raising agents have been used for years to liberate carbon dioxide and increase the volume of a dough or batter. The carbon dioxide is provided by sodium carbonate or bicarbonate either by the action of heat or an acid. The acid is either tartaric acid or one of several acid phosphates. The original mixture consisted of sodium bicarbonate and tartaric acid but the new mixtures have been formulated to provide a range of baking options from immediate to delayed, to allow, for example, the production of frozen part baked items for later finishing.
Sequestrants form complexes with metallic ions so that the metal ions do not cause unwanted effects such as catalysing oxidation reactions or causing coagulation of milk proteins.
The term stabiliser includes substances with a number of functions, including those that keep an emulsion stable for an extended time or that stabilise, retain or intensify an existing colour of a foodstuff, as well as substances that increase the binding capacity of the food, including the formation of crosslinks between proteins, enabling the binding of food pieces into reconstituted food.
Thickeners increase the texture of food products and provide body. There are two main ways of increasing the texture of foods, using gums like gum arabic, locust bean gum and gum guar, and using starches. Some of the gums are synergistic and two are often used together. Their use is limited by the gummy texture inherent in overuse. Flour treatment agents are added to flour or dough to either strengthen or weaken the dough, depending on the product. When it is necessary to mark the skin of a fruit or vegetable the effect can be enhanced by using a laser to remove natural pigment before using the marking substance.
This substance is a contrast enhancer. Flavourings are divided into a number of categories: flavouring substances, flavouring preparations, thermal process flavourings, smoke flavourings, flavour precursors or other flavourings or mixtures. For example, by adding ascorbic acid vitamin C to a food. Against: Food additives have been linked with adverse health effects such as cancer and allergic reactions.
There are some additives that have controversial research linking them with carcinogenic cancer-causing properties. For example, sodium nitrite, used to preserve meat has been linked to increased levels of bowel cancer. Food additives have been linked with affecting some children's behaviour and health.
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