0% found this document useful (0 votes)
111 views4 pages

Food Additives: Types and Effects

Food additives are substances added to food to perform specific functions like preservation or flavoring. They can be classified by their source or function. Common food additives include preservatives like benzoic acid, antioxidants like butylated hydroxytoluene, sweeteners like saccharin, coloring agents like amaranth, flavoring agents like diacetyl, and flavor enhancers like monosodium glutamate. Food additives are added to enhance nutritional value, sensory properties, and shelf life of foods. They must be proven safe for lifetime consumption through toxicological testing.

Uploaded by

Daniel Assefa
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
0% found this document useful (0 votes)
111 views4 pages

Food Additives: Types and Effects

Food additives are substances added to food to perform specific functions like preservation or flavoring. They can be classified by their source or function. Common food additives include preservatives like benzoic acid, antioxidants like butylated hydroxytoluene, sweeteners like saccharin, coloring agents like amaranth, flavoring agents like diacetyl, and flavor enhancers like monosodium glutamate. Food additives are added to enhance nutritional value, sensory properties, and shelf life of foods. They must be proven safe for lifetime consumption through toxicological testing.

Uploaded by

Daniel Assefa
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

Table Categories of Food Additives

Anticaking agents Magnesium silicate


Antimicrobial agents Sodium benzoate
Antibrowning agents Sodium bisulfite
Antioxidants Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA)
Emulsifying agents Lecithin
Nutrients Ascorbic acid
Flavorings Ethyl butyrate
Sweeteners Sucrose

Food Additives
Food additives are substances intentionally added to food to perform specific functions, such as preservatives,
bleaching agents, antioxidants, sweeteners, coloring agents, and flavoring agents, among others. Food
additives are one of the most studied classes of compounds regarding their toxicity. Food additives can be
classified according to their sources, such as from substances that are isolated from edible plants or from living
material, substances that naturally occur in foodstuffs but are obtained by chemical synthesis, and substances
that are not found in nature. In Europe, every additive has an E-number, and each is classified according to its
function in food. As with any other substance used for food production, the toxicity of the additives must be
assessed by different toxicological tests. The most interesting additives are preservatives, antioxidants,
sweeteners, coloring agents, flavoring agents, and emulsifying agents (Table 1).
Table 1. Food additives and toxicants formed during food processing, storage and packaging

Additive group Substance Use in food Effects


Preservatives Benzoic acid; Acidic foods such fruit juices, Weight loss, diarrhea
carbonated drinks and jams
sodium benzoate
(E 211
Antioxidants Butylated Used to retard or prevent rancidity in Asthma
hydroxytoluene edible fats, and oils
(E 321)
Sweeteners Saccharin (E-954) Sweetener most commonly used Carcinogen: contradictory
results
Sodium Sweetener, diet drinks, gums, After metabolization produces
cyclamate (E 952) dressings cyclohexylamine, carcinogenic
Coloring agents Amaranth(E-123) Soft drinks, ice creams Allergic reactions
Flavoring agents Diacetyl (2,3- Used for artificial butter flavoring in Bronchiolitis obliterans, a severe
butane dione) margarines or oil-based products respiratory illness
Flavor enhancers Monosodium Used to supply meat-like flavor Headache
glutamate
The term does not include contaminants or substances added to food for maintaining or improving its nutritive value.
Food additives are intentionally added to food and must be safe for a lifetime of consumption based on current
toxicological evaluation.
A food additive is a substance (or a mixture of substances) which is added to food and is involved in its
production, processing, packaging and/or storage without being a major ingredient. The term does not include
contaminants or substances added to food for maintaining or improving its nutritive value. Additives or their
degradation products generally remain in food, but in some cases they may be removed during processing. The
following examples illustrate and support the use of additives to enhance the:

• Nutritive Value of Food


Additives such as vitamins, minerals, amino acids and amino acid derivatives are utilized to increase the
nutritive value of food. A particular diet may also require the use of thickening agents, emulsifiers, sweeteners,
etc.
Sensory Value of Food
Color, odor, taste and consistency or textures, which are important for the sensory value of food, may decrease
during processing and storage. Such decreases can be corrected or readjusted by additives such as pigments,
aroma compounds or flavor enhancers. Development of “off-flavor”, for instance, derived from fat or oil
oxidation, can be suppressed by antioxidants. Food texture can be stabilized by adding minerals or
polysaccharides, and by many other means.
Shelf Life of Food
The current forms of food production and distribution have increased the demand for longer shelf life.
Furthermore, the world food supply situation requires preservation by avoiding deterioration as much as
possible. The extension of shelf life involves protection against microbial spoilage, for example, by using
antimicrobial additives and by using active agents which suppress and retard undesired chemical and physical
changes in food. The latter is achieved by stabilization of pH using buffering additives or stabilization of texture
with thickening or gelling agents, which are polysaccharides.
Practical Value
The common trend towards foods which are easy and quick to prepare (convenience foods) can also necessitate
the increasing use of additives.
It is implicitly understood that food additives and their degradation products should be non-toxic at their
recommended levels of use. This applies equally to acute and to chronic toxicity, particularly the potential
carcinogenic and mutagenic effects. It is generally recognized that additives are applied only when required for
the nutritive or sensory value of food, or for its processing or handling. The use of additives is regulated by Food
and Drug or Health and Welfare administrations in most countries. The regulations differ in part from country to
country but there are endeavors under way to harmonize them on the basis of both current toxicological
knowledge and the requirements of modern food technology. Food additives are classified into many functional
classes, for example, acidity regulators, antioxidants, colors, emulsifiers, preservatives, stabilizers, sweeteners,
and thickeners.

Food colors
Additives such as food colors are used to restore the original appearance of food whose color has been affected
by food processing to make foodstuffs more visually appealing and to help identify flavors normally associated
with particular foods (such as yellow for lemon). Color additives, including food dyes and pigments, are
substances derived from both synthetic and plant, animal or mineral sources that add color to food. However,
some of these substances may pose a potential risk to human health, especially if they are consumed excessively
and are regulated.
Vitamins
Many food products are enriched or fortified with vitamins to adjust for processing losses or to increase the
nutritive value. Such enrichment is important, particularly for fruit juices, canned vegetables, flour and bread,
milk, margarine and infant food formulations. Table 1.1 provides an overview of vitamin enrichment of food.
Several vitamins have some desirable additional effects. Ascorbic acid is a dough improver, but can play a role
similar to tocopherol as an antioxidant. Carotenoids and riboflavin are used as coloring pigments, while niacin
improves the color stability of fresh and cured and pickled meat.
Table 1.1 Examples of vitamin fortification of food
Vitamin Food product
B1 Cocoa powder and its products ,beverages
B2 Baked products, beverages and concentrates
B6 Baked and pasta products

B12 Beverages, etc


C Fruit drinks, desserts, dairy
products, flour

A Skim milk powder, breakfast


cereals (flakes), beverage
concentrates, margarine, baked
products, etc

D Milk, milk powder, etc.

E Various food products, e. g.


margarine

Minerals
Food is usually an abundant source of minerals. Fortification is considered for iron, which is often not fully available, and for calcium,
magnesium, copper and zinc. Iodization of salt is of importance in iodine deficient areas
Flavor Enhancers
These are compounds that enhance the aroma of a food commodity, though they themselves have no distinct
odor or taste in the concentrations used. An enhancer’s effect is apparent to the senses as “feeling”, “volume”,
“body” or “freshness” (particularly in thermally processed food) of the aroma, and also by the speed of aroma
perception (“time factor potentiator”).
Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) promotes sensory perception, particularly of meat-like aroma notes, and is
frequently used as an additive in frozen, dehydrated or canned fish and meat products. MSG is added in the
concentration range of 0.2–0.8%.
Maltol (3-hydroxy-2-methyl-4-pyrone) has a caramel-like odor (melting point 162–164 ◦C). It enhances the
perception of sweetness in carbohydrate-rich food (e. g. fruit juices, marmalades, fruit jelly). Addition of 5–75
ppm maltol allows a decrease of sugar content by about 15%, while retaining the sweetness intensity.
Sugar Substitutes
Sugar is a most important flavouring substance. It gives the sensation of sweetness and provides a source of
energy. However, excessive sugar intake is linked with a number of health problems including tooth decay,
obesity and diabetes. Alternatives to sugar have therefore been developed which provide the sweetness without
the energy content. Sweeteners are added to foods to replace the sweetness normally provided by sugars without
contributing significantly to available energy and are a means for consumers to control caloric or carbohydrate
intake. Their addition to food can have beneficial effects as they aid in the prevention and control of diseases
such as obesity, diabetes, and tooth decay.

Sweeteners in food
obviously sweeteners provide the sweet taste! However, sugar also has other functions in food:
    provide texture in baked goods,  is a humectant in cakes (stops them from drying out) and lowers the freezing
point in ice creams it acts as a preservative in jams it strengthens "mouth feel" in soft drinks

Sugar substitutes are those compounds that are used like sugars (sucrose, glucose) for sweetening, but are
metabolized without the influence of insulin. Important sugar substitutes are the sugar alcohols, sorbitol and
xylitol

You might also like