Food Additives

Acetic acid

2012-04-21T07:20:00.001-07:00

Its function as acidifier, flavor enhancer and preservative. Acetic acid also used as pH control agent, pickling agent and solvent.

It is found naturally in plant and animal tissues a s product of carbohydrate fermentation.

Acetic acid is the principal component of vinegar. Diluted acetic acid (4-5%) is used as vinegar mixing with sugar, sweetener and amino acids.

It has been used in food technology for thousands of eyras as a natural flavoring and acidulant, the addition of vinegar to foods is not subject to many food law restrictions in most of countries.

Acetic acid is added to a variety of products including baked goods, cheese, condiments, dairy products, gravies, mayonnaise, meats, oils, salad dressing and sauces.

Acetic acid is recognized as a an acidulant in the European Union, added to increase the acidity of a foodstuff and impart a sour taste to it.

It is widely known to have a preservative action at high concentration, hence the long shelf life of picked vegetables.

Acetic acid

Chemical leavening agent of baking soda

2012-02-01T18:16:00.000-08:00

The potash was used in baking as a leavening agent until 1830s. Later, a more favored baking soda (sodium carbonate) soon arrived on the scene. It is the most common agents used for quick breads, cake, cookie and is commercially known as Bicarbonate of Soda.

Baking soda yield carbon dioxide when an alkali reacts with an acid in the presence of a liquid.

Acidic ingredients include natural cocoa powder, butter milk, yoghurt, sour cream, honey, molasses, brown sugar, applesauce, lemon and other citrus juices.

In the process, the residue of the washing soda is left in the baked product, causing inferior color and unpleasant taste. To correct the deficiencies the baker may incorporate either all of the following ingredients: honey, molasses, lemon or vinegar.

Up to ¼ teaspoon of baking soda required for each cup of flour to be leavened. When baking soda is moistened and mixed with an acidic ingredient, it immediately forms carbon dioxide gas, which starts to enlarge the air pockets in the batter.

As soon as it is mixed into a batter, the baking soda is activated and the batter should be baked promptly.

Since baked products brown better when they’re alkaline, baking coda promotes good crust and crumb color.

Chemical leavening agent of baking soda

What is intentional food additives?

2011-12-11T21:32:00.000-08:00

Chemicals that are intentionally introduced into foods to aid in processing, to act as preservatives or to improve the quality of the food are called intentional additives.

Such materials as colors, flavors, sweeteners, vitamins and minerals for enrichments, mold inhibitors, bactericides, antioxidants and emulsifiers are intentional food additives.

Intentionally food additive are chemicals or compounds, natural or synthetic added deliberately to make some changes on the food product, e.g. to add color, to preserve to provide nutritional supplement.

It also include sequestrants, surface active agents, stabilizers and thickeners, bleaching and maturing agents and starch modifiers, buffers, acids, alkalies, and flavoring agents.

Their use is strictly regulated by national and international laws.

The national academy has listed the purpose of food additives as follows:
*To improve or maintain nutritional value (e.g. vitamins and minerals)
*To enhance quality
*To reduce wastage
*To enhance consumer acceptability
*To improve keeping quality
*To make the food more readily available
*To facilitate preparation of the food

The additive must not impart any undesirable flavor, odor, color or texture to the food. That is, it must no make the food unacceptable in any way.
What is intentional food additives?

The use of food addictive

2011-11-28T17:49:00.001-08:00

Food additives play a vital role in today’s bountiful and nutritious food supply. They allow our growing urban population to enjoy a variety of safe, wholesome, tasty foods year round.

Food additives can be used to:
*Improve the taste or appearance of processed food.

*To improve or maintain nutritional value.

*Improve the keeping quality or stability of a food. It is done by adding vitamins and minerals to common foods such as milk, flour, cereal and margarine.

*Enhance flavor or impart desired color.

*Preserve food when this is the most practical way of extending its storage life. It will keep the food appetizing and wholesome. Food addictives retard product spoilage caused by mold, air, bacteria, fungi or yeast.

*To maintain product consistency. Emulsifiers give products such as peanut butter a consistent texture and prevent them from separating. Stabilizers and thickeners give ice cream a smooth, uniform texture.

Use of food additive whether an intentional or incidental one should not be permitted until its safety under conation of the proposed use has been established beyond reasonable doubt as judged by competent experts.
The use of food addictive

Functions and the principles of food additives

2011-09-28T21:24:00.000-07:00

At the turn of the century, changes in population from agriculture to industrial had resulted in a need to establish distribution systems to supply the growing population of the cities with food.

Therefore, food additives are used to preserve the quality of the food and maintain its appeal and at times to restore diminished nutritional value.

It is added to food during its production, processing, treatment, storage or packaging. Some additives are used to change a food’s color or maintain its natural color. Other additives prevent food from spoiling or increase a product’s nutritional value.

According to expert, food deterioration results when the food supply is more than the consumption.

Deterioration can also accrue during the long time required in transit or during storage before it actually reached the consumers.

The current forms of food production and distribution have increased the demand for longer shelf life. Furthermore, the world food supply situation requires preservations by avoiding deterioration as much as possible.

The quality of food can be affected by physical, chemical, biochemical and microbiological processes.

The addition of permitted chemicals substances or food additives can prevent or greatly impede the process of deterioration.

A few principles governing the use of a food additive:
*Technological effective
*Safe in use. Food additives and their degradation products should be non-toxic at their recommend levels of use.
*Absolutely necessary quantity
*Never with the intention of misleading the consumer about the nature or quality of a food
*Minimum use of non-nutrient food additive. They are added to the food in carefully controlled amounts during processing.
*The additives are applied only when required for the nutritive or sensory value of food.
Functions and the principles of food additives

Food flavor

2011-09-01T04:00:00.000-07:00

Food flavor normally are compounds, many of which are natural, although there are also many synthetic ones, which are added to foods to flavors or to modify exiting flavors.

Food flavor also may be a single chemical entity of naturals or synthetic origin. In the early days of human existence, salt, sugar, vinegar, herbs, spices were added to foods to improve their taste or to produce special, desirable taste.

The range of natural and synthetic flavorings available to the modern food technologists is very large.

Food flavor includes taste sensations perceived by the tongue- sweet ,salty, sour, bitter and smell perceived by the nose.

Often the term flavor and smell are used interchangeably. Food flavor and aroma are difficult to measure and difficult to get people to agree on.

The flavor if food is created by aromatic chemicals that are biosynthesized during normal metabolic processes in plants and animals and possible further modified by cooking or processed.

This intrinsic flavor of food represents the complex impact made by these aromatic components on the sense of odor and taste.

The definition makes clear that flavor is a property of (a material of food) as well as of the receptor mechanism of the person ingesting the food.
Food flavor

Contaminant in Food

2011-07-17T17:17:00.000-07:00

Generally food consumers prefer high quality and intrinsically safe food for a low price, but they are also ware of food related health and safety concerns.

The possibility of harmful or toxic substances becoming part of the food supply concerns the public, the food industry and regulatory agencies.

Toxic food contaminants might also be formed within the food itself or within the human digestion tract by reactions of some food ingredients and additives.

Toxic chemical may be introduced into foods unintentionally though direct contamination, through environmental pollutant and as a result of processing.

Food may be contaminated by natural or man-made toxins, including substances shown to be carcinogenic in experimental animals and in some cases in humans.

Many naturally occurring food compounds may be toxic.

Naturally occurring carcinogen include mycotoxins, particularly aflatoxins, which contribute to causation of liver cancer in Africa and Asia.

Some substances are toxic and at the same time essential for good health such as vitamin A and selenium.

Measure require to prevent contamination include:
*Extensive analytical control food
*Determination of the source of contamination
*Legislation to establish permissible levels of contaminants.
Contaminant in Food

Biological Hazard of Food Safety

2011-07-15T21:58:00.000-07:00

A biological hazards is an agent in food with potential to cause human illness. It is the most significant hazards in our food.

Biological hazards involve mainly living organisms, implying strong growth, no growth or death depending on the intrinsic and extrinsic factors of the food matrix.

Intrinsic factors are mainly related to the structure and composition of the foodstuff, while extrinsic factors are related to some environmental parameters that affect the food.

Biological hazards include disease-causing micro-organisms, certain plants and fish that carry toxins (poisonous). Or it can be referred to as microbial contaminants, microorganisms or pathogens.

Once a biological hazard is in the food, it may be very hard to kill or control.

It should ne noted that biological hazards pose the greatest public health threat at the pre-harvest stage since the chemical and physical hazards do not reproduce and increase in the food and in the environment with time, as do microbiological hazards.

Some micro-organisms can survive freezing temperatures. Bacteria and the toxins they produce do not have an odor or taste to help you detect them. Bacteria can be a silent killer in foods.

Some bacteria produce spores. Spores are thick-walled, protective structures that allow bacteria to survive cooking, freezing temperatures, and some sanitizing mixtures.

Microorganisms grow when they have the right nutrients and conditions for growth. Bacteria need these conditions to grow:
Food
High protein foods are often contaminated at the time of purchase. Using safe food practices destroys the bacteria. Acidity: bacteria prefer low-acid environments. Some bacteria do survive an acidic environment.

Bacteria use an enormous range include various sugars and either carbohydrates, amino acids, sterols, alcohols, hydrocarbons, inorganic salts and carbon dioxide.

Time
Potentially hazardous foods should not remain in the danger zone for more than four hours during the entire food handling process.

Temperature
The temperature danger zone is 40 degrees F to 140 degrees F.

Oxygen
Many bacteria grow bets in the present of oxygen (aerobic organism). Some bacteria grow without oxygen- anaerobic. However, both types of bacteria cause foodborne illness.

Others grow equally well under either aerobic or anaerobic conditions.

Moisture
Bacteria grow best in a moist environment.
A high proportion of the mass of a bacterium is water, and during growth, nutrients and waste products enter and leave the cell. Bacteria can grow only in or on materials which have adequate free or available water.

pH
Most bacteria grow best at near pH7 (neutral), and the majority cannot grow under strongly acidic or strongly alkaline solution.
Biological Hazard of Food Safety

Chelating agents

2011-06-29T17:13:00.001-07:00

Chelating agents have acquired greater importance in food processing. Their ability to bind metal ions has contributed significantly to stabilization of food color, aroma and texture.

Trace elements such as iron, cobalt, and copper often accelerate the deterioration of foods. They can act as catalysts for fat or oil oxidation. For instance, ascorbic acid, vitamin E, thiamine and folic acid are affected by copper and both copper and iron led to the destruction of natural and added vitamin A.

Trace metal ions in foods can produce undesirable effects such as discoloration, turbidity, and oxidation.

Pink discoloration in canned pears, blue green in shellfish and arthropods, grey bean in canned maize, clouding of soft drinks, and chill haze in beer are caused by trace minerals.

Their binding by chelating agents increases antioxidants efficiency and inhibits oxidation of ascorbic acid and fat soluble vitamins.

The binding of a hydrogen or metal atom between two atoms of a single molecule is called chelation from the Greek word ‘chele’ (or crab’s claw).

Chelating agent is a molecule that can form several coordinate bonds with a single metal ion.

The most important chelating agent in the food industry is EDTA. There are other two important chelating agents are ethylenediamine and dimercaprol.

EDTA or Ethylenediametetraacetic acid used as a stabilizing agent in the food industry. It promotes color retention on dried bananas, bans, chick peas, canned clams, pecan pie filling, frozen potatoes and canned shrimp.
Chelating agents

Xylitol as food additive

2011-05-13T17:58:00.001-07:00

Xylitol is a pentose sugar alcohol having the formula C5H7(OH)5. It is presently used in chewing gum, gumdrops and handy candy, mints, toothpaste and mouthwashes, mainly because of its noncariogenic property (it has not been found to cause tooth decay).

Xylitol’s intense and distinctive cooling effect in combination with its equal sweetness to sugar make it perfect ingredient for use in chewing gum especially sugar free chewing gums.

Xylitol is a white crystalline substance that for all purpose looks and tastes like white sugar.

It occurs naturally as a constituent in raspberries, strawberries, plums and some vegetables, and is a normal intermediary product of carbohydrate metabolism in humans and in animals.

Because xylitol is slowly absorbed into blood stream and is only partially metabolized, it has a much lower caloric value about 40 percent lower than white sugar.

Xylitol was discovered in wood chips in 189o. It is as sweet as sucrose and was approved as safe for use in humans in 1986.

Commercially, it is produced by the hydrolysis of xylan (which is present to many plants), to xylose. Which is then hydrogenated to produce xylitol.

Xylitol is then purified and crystallized. Xylitol impart a sweet taste, which also appears to have a cooling effects. As it is metabolized by many organisms, it is quite stable.

Xylitol does not encourage growth of yeast, including Candida albicans. In contrast to ordinary sugar, xylitol increases the absorption of B-vitamins and calcium.

Recently, xylitol has been credited in reducing the transmission of cariogenic, bacteria from mother to infant and has been shown to have bactericidal qualities.
Xylitol as food additive

Nutritional Supplements

2011-04-01T18:43:00.000-07:00

Nutritional supplements are a major type of additive. Breakfast cereals, which is often make extensive nutritional claims, rely heavily on such additives.

Many of the additive used are vitamins (such as vitamin C) and are intended to make the product a better source of nutrition.

Vitamins and minerals are added to many common foods such as milk, flour, cereal, and margarine to make up for elements likely to be lacking in a person’s diet, replace those lost in processing or improve shelf life.

Other uses include moisture control, thickening, and processing aids.

To regulate all these additives, and to help consumers sort through the complex and confusing terminology, each additive is assigned a unique number.

This codification (also called E numbers in Europe) is recognized internationally and is managed by the Codex Alimentarius Commission.

Codex Alimentarius Commission was created by Food and Agriculture Organization and World Health Organization in 1963.

The Codex Alimentarius is a collection of internationally adopted food standards presented in a uniform manner.

These food standards aim at protecting consumer’s health and ensuring fair practices in the food trade.

Its mission is to develop food standards and guidelines for identification worldwide. For example. Aspartame a popular artificial sweetener, is coded E951, while monosodium glutamate (MSG) is coded E621.

Estimates are that 2,000 to 20,000 agents are added to the food that we consume. These include preservatives, stabilizers, conditioners, thickeners, colorings, flavorings, sweeteners and antioxidants.
Nutritional Supplements

Food Additives as Preservatives and Appearance Additives

2011-03-01T05:23:00.000-08:00

Food Additives as Preservatives and Appearance Additives
Preservatives are added to food substance to slow spoilage and deterioration. Some sources estimate that there are about 100 common preservatives being used by the food industry.

Preservatives are specific to the food being preserved; antioxidants are used in fatty products, for example, while breads often have “mold inhibitors.”

Other common multipurpose preservatives are familiar ingredients such as salt, sugar and vinegar. All of these extend the shelf life of food products and reduce the risk of food related disease.

Some preservation techniques , such as irradiated food, aseptic processing and microwave pasteurization, reduce the need for conventional food additives used to reduce spoilage, but their safety is sometimes debated.

Appearance additives include texturizers, coloring agents and flavorings. These additives enhance the look, mouthfeel or taste of foods without changing other characteristics.

Texturizers are put into food products to maintain a desired texture, and sodium nitrate is used to develop and stabilize the pink color in meats.

Coloring agents are used to increase attractiveness of food to consumers; foods that are frequently colored include candy, soft drinks and diary products such as butter, cheese, and cream.

Flavoring additives are the most common type of additive approved for human consumption. If the roughly 3,000 additives approved, about 2,000 are flavorings used to replace the flavors lost during processing.

Hence, this category of additives used mainly to appeal to user tastes and to enhance purchasing of the target food product.
Food Additives as Preservatives and Appearance Additives

Food Coloring

2011-02-15T17:46:00.000-08:00

Food Coloring
Color is important to many food, both those that are unprocessed and those that are manufactured. Together with flavor and texture, color plays an important role in food acceptability.

In addition, color may provide an indication of chemical changes in a food, such as browning and caramelization.

For a few clear liquid foods, such as oils and beverages, color is mainly a matter of transmission of light.

Other foods are opaque - they derive their color mostly from reflection.

Some hues occur frequently in foods provided by nature. Green, red, pink, orange, yellow and purple are common. Blue green is rare and no blues exist at all.

It is instructive to consider the fundamental natural rules governing the colors of the world around us and the food we eat.

Color is the general name for all sensations arising from the activity of the retina of the eye. When light reaches the retina, the eye’s neural mechanism responds, signaling color among other things.

Light is the radiant energy in t wavelength range of about 400 to 800 nm. According to this definition color cannot be studied without considering the human sensory system.

The color perceived when the eye views an illuminated object is related to the following three factors: the spectral composition of the light source, the chemical and physical characteristics of the object and the spectral sensitivity properties of the eye.

To evaluate the properties of the object we must standardize the other two factors. Fortunately, the characteristics of different people’s eyes for viewing colors are fairly uniform; it is not too difficult to replace the eye by some instrumental sensor or photocell that can provide consistent results.

There are several systems of color classification; the most important is the CIE system (Commission International de I’Eclairage –International Commission on Illumination. Other systems used to describe food color are the Munsell, Hunter and Lovibond systems.

Added colorants in foods dates from at least 3,700 BC when Egyptians were coloring their candy.

Sugar imported into Europe from Alexandra in the twelfth century was colored with madder and kermes, but the use of cochineal probably predates this.

Awareness of browning would have predated the use of color additives. For an extended shelf life in fresh fruits and vegetables, enzymatic browning must be eliminated.

Foods depending on enzymatic browning for their quality include black tea, dates, prunes and raisin, Non enzymatic browning provides many of the flavors of baking and cooking.
Food Coloring

Food Additives in General

2011-01-17T18:02:00.000-08:00

Food additives are used to preserve the quality of the food and maintain its appeal and at times to restore diminished nutritional value.

Additives are added to food to perform different technological functions, for example, to increase shelf life (preservative), or to protect against rancidity (antioxidants).

Food additives also improve the taste or appearance of processed food and keeping quality or stability of a food.

Wastage of food is a loss and should be avoided at all costs.

Food additive can be divided into two major groups, intentional additives and incidental additives.

Intentional additives are chemical substances that are added to food for specific purpose.

The use of additives in food is controlled by separate legislation relating to for example, colors in food, sweeteners, miscellaneous additives (other than colors and sweeteners) and flavorings.

What is the definition of food additive:
The term food additive means any substance the intended use of which result, or may reasonably be expectedly to result, directly or indirectly in its becoming a component or other wise affecting the characteristics of any food (including any substance intended for use in producing, manufacturing, packing, processing, preparing, treating, packaging, transporting or holding food; and including any source of radiation intend for any such use).

There are three classes of intentional additives:
*Additives generally recognized as safe (GRAS)
*Additives with prior approval
*Food Additives

Adverse reactions to food additive occur in a small proportion of the population. More people are intolerant to foods themselves than to food additives.

Intolerance does not depend on whether the food additive is derived form natural or synthetic source.
Food Additives in General

Legal Background History of Food Additives

2011-01-01T07:24:00.000-08:00

Legal Background History of Food Additives
As with many other elements used in food processing, additives originate very early in human history, For example, people learned in prehistoric times that adding salt to meat would preserve it.

Likewise, smoke which also acts as a preservative might considered an early food additive. Overtime, additives have come to thoroughly influence our eating habits, our taste preferences, and our socio-cultural development.

The earliest legislation controlling the use of food additives took place in Britain in the 19th century, following the work of Frederick Accum, though its original impetus was the prevention of food adulteration.

In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) oversees the regulation of ingredients that can be added to food.

It was not until 1958 that registration was adopted requiring food and chemical manufacturers to test their additives before they were submitted to the FDA.

Before the law, the FDA itself was responsible for testing the submitted additive. Thereafter, Congress established a Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) list.

This list recognized that many substances that had been added to food for along time were commonly seen as safe by qualified scientists, which exempted them from premarket clearance.

This list was revised in 1969 and as of 1980 contained 415 substances that were originally included in the 1958 project. Today, manufacturers are responsible for demonstrating their GRAS status and providing evidence (such as scientific literature) to support it.

Approximately 100 new substances are presented to the FDA for GRAS certification every year.

Also included in 1958 law was an amendment called the Delaney Act; it stipulated that “no additives may be permitted in any amount of the tests show that it produces cancer when fed to man or animals by other appropriate test.”

Many manufacturers, as well as some FDA commissioners, have criticized this amendment as being unenforceable.

Instead, in 2003, the FDA adopted a “no residue” clause; this clause provided that the FDA could approve an animal feed additive or drug that induces cancer if there is “no residue” of the additive found after slaughter.

The FDA maintains that the risk is slight or nonexistence of humans consume meat or drink milk from an animal with a minuscule amount of a carcinogen present.
History of Food Additives and History of Legal Background

History of Food Additive

2010-12-15T17:25:00.000-08:00

History of Food Additive
Before the Civil War, people raised most of what they ate and processed it themselves and food additives were limited mostly to home grown colorings and substances needed for preservation in storage vegetable and fruit juices, salt, spices, smoke.

Our system of food supply changed after the Civil War. Thousands of rural people flocked to the cities to work in factories, they now needed food grown and preserved by someone else. Manufacturers of food products sprang up almost everywhere.

Food purity as such was not a major consideration. Cheap and handy methods of preserving foods were important to profits and scientific knowledge of food chemistry was practically nonexistent.

Dangerous adulteration of foods was commonplace. Chemicals to keep products looking good until they reached the consumer or just to hide the small and look of spoilage were used without much restraint.

The problem of food additives became acute. Supplying the rapid growing urban population required constantly expanding facilities and speed of production took precedence over both quaintly and safety.

For example, copper sulphate, a powerful emetic also known as blue vitriol, was added to canned vegetables to give them that fresh, green look; and salicylic acid, borax and formaldehyde were used generously - and carelessly.

Food and drug protection became an operating function of the Federal Government under the strong leadership of one man. Dr. Harvey Washington Wiley, chief chemist for the US Department of Agriculture in Washington DC, announced publicly that the American people were being steadily poisoned by the dangerous chemicals that were being added to food with reckless abandon.

To dramatize the problem and to learn more about the reactions of the human body to ingestion of these chemicals, he formed , in 1902, what became known as “Dr. Wiley’s Poison squad.” Twelve young healthy men, recruited from the Department of Agriculture, pledge to eat nothing except what Dr. Wiley prescribed.

Over a period five years, Poison Squad members were fed measured doses of many kinds of commonly –used food additives. Dr. Wiley was not only concerned about determining the affects of these additives he was also interested in stirring up the public about the need for a pure food law.

The efforts of Dr, Wiley and the publication of the book The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair, which told of the fifth accompanying the production of meat and meat products, were powerful, moving forces that helped persuade Congress to pass the Food and Drug Act 1906 as well as the Meat Inspection Act of the same year.

In 1927, the Food, Drug and Insecticide Administration, later to be named the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was created.
History of Food Additive
Further reading: Modern History of Food Additives

Acesulfame K in Soft Drinks as a Sweetener

2010-12-01T03:45:00.000-08:00

Acesulfame K in Soft Drinks as a Sweetener
As with all intense sweeteners, sweetness potency of acesulfame K relative to sucrose decreases with increasing concentration and varies with the medium in which the sweetener is being tested and the method used for qualifying sweetness.

The taste profile of acesulfame K is generally considered to be superior to saccharin. It has a rapid onset time but the sweetness quality is marred by a bitter astringent aftertaste that is particularly noticeable at higher concentrations.

Sweetness quality can be greatly improved by combining with other intense and bulk sweeteners. High levels of synergism (30% and above) reportedly occur with aspartame and to a lesser extent with cyclamate, glucose fructose and sucrose.

Very little synergy is repeated to occur with saccharin , possible because they compete for the same sweet receptor site.

The aftertaste of acesulfame K can be masked in some cases by the addition of sugar alcohols maltol and ethyl maltol.

In soft drinks as a sole sweetener, levels of 600-800 and 550-750 mg/l for cola and citrus flavored drinks, respectively are appropriate.

Blending with other sweeteners, in particular aspartame, gives a much more acceptable product.
Acesulfame K in Soft Drinks as a Sweetener

Definition of Food Additive

2010-11-17T06:49:00.000-08:00

Definition of Food Additive
Contrary to popular believe, the word “food additive” refers to a use and not a class of substances. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) defines food additive as follows:

"...the intended use of which results or may reasonably be expected to result, directly or indirectly, either in their becoming a component of food or otherwise affecting the characteristics of food.

A material used in the production of containers and packages is subject to the definition if it may reasonably be expected to become a component, or to affect the characteristics, directly or indirectly, of food packed in the container.

‘Affecting the characteristics of food’ does not included such physical effects as protecting contents of packages, preserving shape, and preventing moisture loss. If there is not migration of a packaging component from package to the food, it does not become a component of the food and thus is not a food additive.

A substances that does not become a component of food, but that is used, for example, in preparing an ingredient of the food to give a different flavor, texture or other characteristic in the food, may be a food additive.”

Sometimes additives are divided into two categories:
1. Intentional or direct
2. Incidental or indirect

Intentional or direct
These are the additives of known composition that have been purposely added to foods to achieve specific effects during production or processing or to impart or retain desired characteristics.

Incidental or Indirect
These are chemical which have no planned function in food, but become part of it during some phase of processing, packaging, or storing.

For most part, additives perform a necessary function on food. The amount of most additive consumed on a yearly basis is relatively small: hence, additives pose a minor health risk.

There are over 2,000 additives, many are common chemicals, and all are continually scrutinized by any adverse effects on the health of people. But, to enjoy the benefits from any technology carries as certain degree of risk.
Definition of Food Additive

Find out about Food Additive

2010-09-18T09:07:00.000-07:00

By definition, food additives are distinguished from food or natural food constituents. A food is a natural food constituent becomes a food additive when added to another food.

Food additives must be included in the ingredient list on the nutrition information panel, either as the name and the number (e.g. calcium alginate (404)), or as its functions and number (e.g thickener (404)).

You can use this information to gain a better understanding of what is in the food you eat.

For example acidity regulators help maintain a constant acid level in foods to prevent them from spoiling, as well as change the flavor of the food.

Food additives are used in processed foods in relatively small quantities. Many substances used as food additives also occur naturally, such as vitamin C or ascorbic acid (300) in fruit or lecithin (322) in yolks, soybeans, peanuts and maize.

The FDA, the European Food Safety Authority and many international agencies monitor the safety of chemical added to food.

Some chemical additives such as food coloring, must be tested for safety by the manufacturer prior to being approved for the use in foods.

On the other hand, many kinds of food additives are not tested rigorously for safety before entering the food supply; safety issues arise only after an additive has been in use and a deleterious effect in consumers; health is suspected.
Find out about Food Additive

Modern History of Food Additives

2010-08-07T20:10:00.000-07:00

Modern History of Food Additives
As with many other elements used in food processing , additives originate very early in human history. For example, people learned in prehistoric terms that adding salt to meat would preserve it.

Likewise, smoke, which also acts as a preservative, might be considered an early food additive.

Over time, additives have come to thoroughly influence our eating habits, our taste preferences, and our socio cultural development.

The earliest legislation controlling the use of food additives took place in Britain in the 19th century, following the work of Frederick Accum, though its original impetus was the prevention of food adulteration.

In the United States the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) oversees the regulation of ingredients that can be added to food.

It was not until 1958 that legislation was adopted requiring food and chemical manufacturers to test their additives before they were submitted to the FDA.

Before that lawn the FDA itself was responsible for testing the submitted additives. Thereafter, Congress established a Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) list.

This list recognized that many substances that had been added to food for a long time were commonly seen as safe by qualified scientists, which exempted them from premarket clearance.

This list was revised in 1969 and as of 1980 contained 415 substances that were originally included in the 1958 project.

Today, manufacturers were responsibility for demonstrating their GRAS status and providing evidence (such as scientific literature) to support it. Approximately 100 new substances are presented to the FDA for GRAS certification very year.
Modern History of Food Additives

Fruit Quality and Quality Products

2010-07-11T04:37:00.000-07:00

Fruit Quality and Quality Products
*High quality juice operation are dependent upon a source of high quality raw material.
No matter how good the process is, starting with poor quality fruit for juice production will lead to a poor quality product.
Often the quality of the fruit is dependent the stage of maturity or the level of ripening.
Typical assessments of fruit ripening include sugar concentration, acidity starch content, color, flavor and firmness.

*As is often the case in unit operations, efficiency drives the harvesting process, and in terms of harvester operation, this usually means some form of mechanical harvesting.
Quality can be preserved with mechanical harvesting; however extra care needs to be exercised in the design and use of harvesters.

*In general, all handling of the fruit should be done with sensitivity to the potential of cruising and contamination of the fruit.
Special care must be made on transport of the fruit through the plant so that large drops or other impacts are avoided.

*Storage facilities must be optimized for the type and maturity of the fruit.
Although general cooling of fruit at controlled relative humidity is standard for extending storage life of the fruit, controlled atmosphere can be used to maximize shelf life of fruits such apples.

*Starting with good quality, sound fruit is important but so, too, is the cleanliness of the process operations are important.
In all phases of the juice production, design and assurance of clean and safe operations are important.
Daily cleaning and sanitation of the plant with routine shutdowns will assure maintenance of a clean operation and prevent buildup of trouble spots.
Fruit Quality and Quality Products

Food Additives as anticaking, free flow agents and antioxidants

2010-05-31T23:33:00.000-07:00

Food Additives as anticaking, free flow agents and antioxidants
These are compound that are added to dry ingredients such as salt, powdered sugar and finely ground spice blended to keep the product free flowing during storage and use.

The compound added, such as calcium stearate, has the ability to preferentially tie up moisture, therefore maintaining the free flow properties of the dry product and minimizing the problems of caking, lumping and agglomeration.

While for antioxidants traditionally, these food additives have been added to fats, oils, and fat containing foods to prevent oxidation from occurring , which in turn can result in product rancidity.

Both naturally occurring compounds such as vitamins A and C as well as synthetic antioxidants typified by butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) have been utilized due to their ability to tie up free oxygen before it can react with the unsaturated portion of fatty acids.

Due to potency of some synthetic antioxidants, maximum usage levels are enforced. It should be noted that antioxidants are intended to retard but not to prevent product deterioration and discoloration.
Food Additives as anticaking, free flow agents and antioxidants

Flavoring agent

2010-04-29T03:32:00.000-07:00

Flavoring agent
Spices as well as natural and artificial sweetening agents are important additives. Of the flavour enhancers, sodium, chloride is the most common and the oldest.

Monosodium glutamate was isolated as early as 1867 but its flavor-enhancing properties were not described until 1908 by a Japanese chemist, K. Ikeda.

It is used extensively in oriental foods and is thought to cause Chine restaurant syndrome (primarily hot flushes or the neck).

There is some evidence that it may cause brain damage in mice and monkeys. Other flavour potentiators include ethyl maltol, disodium inosinate and disodium guanylate.
Flavoring agent

Food Additives

2010-04-08T20:05:00.000-07:00

Food Additives
The use of food additives dates back to ancient times. Examples of these early additives are salt to preserve meats and fish, herbs and spices for seasoning foods, sugar to preserve fruits and vinegar vegetable.

Today manufacturers use more than 3,000 food additives.

A commonly used definition of a food additive is any substance added to a food either directly or indirectly though production, processing, storing or packaging.

Food additives serve a number of functions:

Preservatives to keep food fresh and to prevent spoilage.
This is important, as in our modern lifestyle; food is rarely eaten at the time or place it is produced. Calcium propionate inhibits molds and is often added to bread products for this purpose.

Nutrients to improve or maintain the nutritional quality of foods. Most salt contains iodine to prevent goiter a condition resulting for iodine deficiency.

Processing aids to maintain product texture such as retaining moisture, preventing lumping, or adding stability. Powdered foods such as cocoa contain silicon dioxide to prevent clumping when water is added.

Flavors to enhance or change the status or aroma of a food. These include spices, herbs, flavor enhancers, natural and synthetic flavors and sweeteners.

Colors to glove foods an appealing look. Many of the colors associated with foods are from added colorings, such a caramel to make cola drinks brown and annatto to make margarine yellow.

Food additives are derived from naturally occurring and synthetic materials. Scientist can now synthesize in the laboratory many additives that used to be derived from natural sib stance, creating a larger and cheaper supply.

Food additives allow us to enjoy safe, wholesome, tasty foods each year round without the inconvenience of growing our own foods or shopping daily. Convenience foods are made possible by the use of food additives.
Food Additives

Food Additive in Preservation and Processing of Food

2010-03-24T20:51:00.000-07:00

Food Additive in Preservation and Processing of Food
Direct food additive serve several major functions. Many additives in fact, are multifunctional.

Preservation
Food preservation techniques have advanced in the past 100 years and now include thermal processing, concentration and drying, refrigeration and freezing, modified atmosphere and irradiation.

However, the use of chemical preservatives frequently augments these basics preservation techniques and represents the most economical way for manufacturers to ensure a reasonable shelf life for their products.

Antioxidants and antimicrobial agents perform some of these functions as well.

Processing
Food processors are increasingly using food additives to ensure the integrity and appeal of their finished products.

Emulsifiers maintain mixtures and improve texture in breads, dressings and other foods.

They are used in ice cream when smoothers is desired , in breads to increase shelf life and volume and to distribute the shortening, and in cake mixes to achieve better consistency.

Stabilizers and thickeners assist in presenting an appealing product with consistent texture.

Sorbitol, a humectants and sweetener, is used to retain moisture and enhance flavor.

With the removal of sugar from many foods for dietetics reasons, a substitute bulking agent is needed.
Food Additive in Preservation and Processing of Food