EVALUATING THE USE OF FOOD ADDITIVES

  

Food additives are substances added to food to preserve flavor or enhance its taste and appearance. Some additives have been used for centuries; for example, preserving food by pickling (withvinegar), salting, as with bacon, preserving sweets or using sulfur dioxide as in some wines. With the advent of processed foods in the second half of the 20th century, many more additives have been introduced, of both natural and artificial origin.

Preserving is used to avoid the spread of micro organism in food. So that the food will be lasting without damage.

Examples: -i)sulphur dioxide used in soft drinks

                   ii)sodium benzoate used in source chilly

                  iii)sodium nitrate used in burger

Antioxidants Antioxidants such as vitamin C act as preservatives by inhibiting the effects of oxygen on food, and can be beneficial to health.

Examples: i)ascorbic acid

                 ii)citric acid

                iii) isopropil sitrate

Flavors Flavors are additives that give food a particular taste or smell, and may be derived from natural ingredients or created artificially.

Examples: i) monosodium glutamate

                  ii)vanilla and pandan flavours

Emulsifiers Emulsifiers allow water and oils to remain mixed together in an emulsion, as in mayonnaise, ice cream, and homogenized milk

 Bulking agents Bulking agents such as starch are additives that increase the bulk of a food without affecting its taste.

Food coloring Colorings are added to food to replace colors lost during

 preparation, and to make food look more attractive.

Examples: i)Tatrazene(yellow, red, brown)

                 ii)Trifenyl compound (green,blue)

 Some artificial food additives have been linked with cancer, digestive problems, neurological conditions, ADHD, heart disease or obesity.^[8] Natural additives may be similarly harmful or be the cause of allergic reactions in certain individuals. For example, safrole was used to flavor root beer until it was shown to be carcinogenic.

What's In...
Sausages
Water - acts as a solvent
Rusk - absorbs fat and water
Salt - preservative agent
Protein concentrate - for creating emulsions
Polyphosphate - synergistic with salt - increases emulsifying properties
Monosodium glutamate – a flavour enhancer, highlights savoury taste
Cochineal - colouring agent (may exacerbate hyperactivity in susceptible children)
Sodium metabisuphate - suppresses food poisoning organisms
Sugar - caramelises when heated to give brown colour
Ascorbic acid - vitamin C, anti-oxidant, stops loss of flavours particularly when frozen

        

Ice Cream
Air -­ gives a light texture
Mono and diglycerides of fatty acids - act as emulsifiers
Soya lecithins -­ emulsifier and viscosity reducer in chocolate
Carageenan - ­ emulsifier (may degrade to potentially carcinogenic products)
Carob bean gum -­ gelling agent and stabiliser Guar Gum ­ thickening agent (in huge quantities may cause nausea etc)
Carboxymethylcellulose - thickening agent, stops loss of moisture
Sodium alginate -­ acts as a stabiliser Vanilla extract ­ gives flavour
Annatto -­ colouring agent, precursor to vitamin A
Curcumin - colouring agent
Pectin - emulsifier, stabiliser and gelling agent extracted from fruit