Food additive: Difference between revisions

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Food additives are substances added to food to preserve flavour or improve its taste and appearance. Some additives have been used for centuries; for example, preserving food by pickling (with vinegar), 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.

Numbering

To regulate these additives, and inform consumers, each additive is assigned a unique number. Initially these were the "E numbers" used in Europe for all approved additives. This numbering scheme has now been adopted and extended by the Codex Alimentarius Commission to internationally identify all additives, regardless of whether they are approved for use.

E numbers are all prefixed by "E", but countries outside Europe use only the number, whether the additive is approved in Europe or not. For example, acetic acid is written as E260 on products sold in Europe, but is simply known as additive 260 in some countries. Additive 103, alkanet, is not approved for use in Europe so does not have an E number, although it is approved for use in Australia and New Zealand. Since 1987 Australia has had an approved system of labelling for additives in packaged foods. Each food additive has to be named or numbered. The numbers are the same as in Europe, but without the prefix 'E'.

The United States Food and Drug Administration listed these items as "Generally recognized as safe" or GRAS and these are listed under both their Chemical Abstract Services number and FDA regulation listed under the US Code of Federal Regulations

See list of food additives for a complete list of all the names.
See E number for the numbers.

Other Info

Food additives are substances which are added in small amounts to processed foods for a specific purpose. Food additives have been used for centuries. Salt, sugar and vinegar were among the first and used to preserve foods. In the past 30 years, however, with the advent of processed foods, there has been a massive explosion in the chemical adulteration of foods with additives. Considerable controversy has been associated with the potential threats and possible benefits of food additives.
In several cases, artificial food additives have been linked with cancer, digestive problems, and neurological conditions such as ADD. They can be also linked with diseases like heart disease, obesity, rapid heartbeat and more. Though some people feel organic additives are preferable to artificial ones, others point out that "natural" additives themselves may be harmful in large quantities (such as salt) or may contain natural toxins, such as chemicals made by plants to defend themselves^[1]. The U.S. Food Labelling Regulations (1984) describe an additive as:

'any substance not commonly regarded or used as a food, which is added or used in or on food at any stage to affect its keeping qualities, texture, consistency, appearance, taste, odour, alkalinity or acidity or to serve any other technological function in relation to food.'

References

U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (1993). Everything Added to Food in the United States. Boca Raton, FL: C.K. Smoley (c/o CRC Press, Inc.).
The Food Labelling Regulations (1984)
Advanced Modular Science, Nelson, Food and Health, by John Adds, Erica Larkcom and Ruth Miller

^ Schlosser, Eric. (2001) Fast Food Nation: the dark side of the all-American meal. New York: Houghton Mifflin

External links

[1] Schlosser, Eric. (2001) Fast Food Nation: the dark side of the all-American meal. New York: Houghton Mifflin

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@@ Line 26: / Line 26: @@
 ;Antifoaming agents : [[Antifoaming agent]]s reduce or prevent foaming in foods.
 ;Antioxidants : [[Antioxidant]]s such as [[vitamin C]] act as preservatives by inhibiting the effects of [[oxygen]] on food, and can be beneficial to health.
-;Bulking agents : [[hBulking agent]]s such as [[starch]] are additives that increase the bulk of a food without affecting its nutritional value.
+;Bulking agents : [[Bulking agent]]s such as [[starch]] are additives that increase the bulk of a food without affecting its nutritional value.
-;Food coloring : [[Food coloring|Colorings]] are added to food to replace colors lost during preparation, or to make food look more attractive.hahb
+;Food coloring : [[Food coloring|Colorings]] are added to food to replace colors lost during preparation, or to make food look more attractive.
-;Color hstrretention agents : In contrast to colorings, [[color retention agent]]s are used to presfgerve a food's existing color.
+;Color retention agents : In contrast to colorings, [[color retention agent]]s are used to preserve a food's existing color.
-;Emulsifiers : [[Emulsifier]]s allow water fdvaand oils to remain mixed together in an [[emulsion]], as in [[mayonnaise]], [[ice cream]], and homogenized [[milk]].hdy
+;Emulsifiers : [[Emulsifier]]s allow water and oils to remain mixed together in an [[emulsion]], as in [[mayonnaise]], [[ice cream]], and homogenized [[milk]].
 ;Flavors : [[Flavor]]s are additives that give food a particular taste or smell, and may be derived from natural ingredients or created artificially.
 ;Flavor enhancers : [[Flavor enhancer]]s enhance a food's existing flavors. They may be extracted from natural sources (through [[distillation]], [[solvent extraction]], [[maceration]], among other methods) or created artificially.