food additives

(food engineering) A substance added to foods during processing to improve color, texture, flavor, or keeping qualities; examples are antioxidants, emulsifiers, thickeners, preservatives, and colorants.

Food additives may be natural or artificial. Common natural additives include sugar, salt, corn syrup, baking soda, and pepper. Many modern additives, such as vitamins and some flavours, are made in a laboratory but most of them are exact replicas of naturally occurring substances and the body is unable to distinguish between the natural and artificial forms. The most controversial additives are those which are completely synthetic and have no natural counterpart.

In the European Union, food additives are often given ‘E’ numbers: a set of standard codes which have been approved by the European Union. The main categories of additives are colours (e.g. E100, curcumin), preservatives (e.g. E200, sorbic acid); antioxidants (e.g. E300, L-ascorbic acid); emuslifiers and stabilizers (e.g. E322, lecithins); and sweeteners (e.g. E421, mannitol). Other food additives include:

• acids (e.g. citric acid, give a sour taste)
• anti-caking agents (e.g. some phosphates, to help food flow easily)
• antifoaming agents (e.g. oxystearin, to prevent excessive frothing)
• bases (e.g. bicarbonate, as a raising agent and acid neutralizer)
• bulking agents (e.g. guar gum, adds bulk without adding any calories)
• firming agents (e.g aluminium salts, to retain crispness)
• flavour modifiers (reduces flavour)
• flour improvers (e.g. cysteine)
• glazing agents (e.g. waxes, to give polished appearance)
• humectants (e.g. glycerol, to prevent foods, such as marshmallow, drying out)
• liquid freezants (e.g. liquid nitrogen, to freeze food quickly)
• packaging gases (e.g. nitrogen, to control the atmosphere within a package)
• propellants (e.g. carbon dioxide, to form an aerosol, forcing food out of containers)
• release agents (e.g. silicates, to prevent food sticking to pans)
• sequestrants (e.g. sodium hydrogen diacetate, to help remove heavy metals from food
• solvents (e.g. glycerol, to dissolve solids in food).

In the broadest of terms, food additives are substances intentionally added to food either directly or indirectly with one or more of the following purposes: 1. To maintain or improve nutritional quality; 2. To maintain product quality and freshness; 3. To aid in the processing or preparation of food; and 4. To make food more appealing. Some 2,800 substances are currently added to foods for one or more of these uses. During normal processing, packaging and storage, up to 10,000 other compounds can find their way into food. Today more than ever, additives are strictly regulated. Manufacturers must prove the additives they add to food are safe. This process can take several years and includes a battery of chemical studies as well as tests involving animals, the latter to determine whether the substances could have harmful effects such as cancer and birth defects. The results of these comprehensive studies must be presented to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which then determines how the additive can be used in food. There are two major categories of food that are exempt from this testing and approval process: 1. A group of 700 substances categorized as GRAS ("generally recognized as safe"), which are so classified because of extensive past use without harmful side effects; and 2. Substances approved before 1958 either by the FDA or the USDA. An ongoing review of many of these substances is in effect, however, to make sure they're tested against the most current scientific standards. It's interesting to note that about 98 percent (by weight) of all food additives used in the United States are in the form of baking soda, citric acid, corn syrup, mustard, pepper, salt, sugar and vegetable colorings. For information on specific additives, see Additives Directory, page 756.

Substances that are added to foods to prevent spoilage, improve appearance, enhance the flavor or texture, or increase the nutritional value.

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.

Contents 1 Numbering 2 Safety 3 Standardization of its derived products 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

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,^[1] 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.

Acids 

Food acids are added to make flavors "sharper", and also act as preservatives and antioxidants. Common food acids include vinegar, citric acid, tartaric acid, malic acid, fumaric acid, lactic acid.

Acidity regulators 

Acidity regulators are used to change or otherwise control the acidity and alkalinity of foods.

Anticaking agents 

Anticaking agents keep powders such as milk powder from caking or sticking.

Antifoaming agents 

Antifoaming agents reduce or prevent foaming in foods.

Antioxidants 

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

Bulking agents 

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

Food coloring 

Colorings are added to food to replace colors lost during preparation, or to make food look more attractive.

Color retention agents 

In contrast to colorings, color retention agents are used to preserve a food's existing color. Color retention agents are often used for restoring cow's milk to its natural white color as unhealthy cows may bleed into the milk.^{[citation needed]}

Emulsifiers 

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

Flavors 

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

Flavor enhancers 

Flavor enhancers enhance a food's existing flavors. They may be extracted from natural sources (through distillation, solvent extraction, maceration, among other methods) or created artificially.

Flour treatment agents 

Flour treatment agents are added to flour to improve its color or its use in baking.

Humectants 

Humectants prevent foods from drying out.

Tracer gas

Tracer gas allow for package integrity testing to prevent foods from being exposed to atmosphere, thus guaranteeing shelf life.

Preservatives 

Preservatives prevent or inhibit spoilage of food due to fungi, bacteria and other microorganisms.

Stabilizers 

Stabilizers, thickeners and gelling agents, like agar or pectin (used in jam for example) give foods a firmer texture. While they are not true emulsifiers, they help to stabilize emulsions.

Sweeteners 

Sweeteners are added to foods for flavoring. Sweeteners other than sugar are added to keep the food energy (calories) low, or because they have beneficial effects for diabetes mellitus and tooth decay and diarrhea.

Thickeners 

Thickeners are substances which, when added to the mixture, increase its viscosity without substantially modifying its other properties.

Safety

With the increasing use of processed foods since the 19th century, there has been a great increase in the use of food additives of varying levels of safety. This has led to legislation in many countries regulating their use. For example, boric acid was widely used as a food preservative from the 1870s to the 1920s,^[2][3] but was banned after World War I due to its toxicity, as demonstrated in animal and human studies. During World War II the urgent need for cheap, available food preservatives led to it being used again, but it was finally banned in the 1950s.^[2] Such cases led to a general mistrust of food additives, and an application of the precautionary principle led to the conclusion that only additives that are known to be safe should be used in foods. In the USA, this led to the adoption of the Delaney clause, an amendment to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938, stating that no carcinogenic substances may be used as food additives. However, after the banning of cyclamates in the USA and Britain in 1969, saccharin, the only remaining legal artificial sweetener at the time, was found to cause cancer in rats. Widespread public outcry in the USA, partly communicated to Congress by postage-paid postcards supplied in the packaging of sweetened soft drinks, led to the retention of saccharin despite its violation of the Delaney clause.^[4]

In September 2007, research financed by Britain’s Food Standards Agency and published online by the British medical journal The Lancet, presented evidence that a mix of additives commonly found in children’s foods increases the mean level of hyperactivity.^[5] The team of researchers concluded that “the finding lends strong support for the case that food additives exacerbate hyperactive behaviors (inattention, impulsivity and overactivity) at least into middle childhood.” That study examined the effect of artificial colors and a sodium benzoate preservative, and found both to be problematic for some children. Further studies are needed to find out whether there are other additives that could have a similar effect, and it is unclear whether some disturbances can also occur in mood and concentration in some adults. In the February 2008 issue of its publication, AAP Grand Rounds, the American Academy of Pediatrics concluded that a low-additive diet is a valid intervention for children with ADHD:

“Although quite complicated, this was a carefully conducted study in which the investigators went to great lengths to eliminate bias and to rigorously measure outcomes. The results are hard to follow and somewhat inconsistent. For many of the assessments there were small but statistically significant differences of measured behaviors in children who consumed the food additives compared with those who did not. In each case increased hyperactive behaviors were associated with consuming the additives. For those comparisons in which no statistically significant differences were found, there was a trend for more hyperactive behaviors associated with the food additive drink in virtually every assessment. Thus, the overall findings of the study are clear and require that even we skeptics, who have long doubted parental claims of the effects of various foods on the behavior of their children, admit we might have been wrong.”

In 2007, Food Standards Australia New Zealand published an official shoppers' guidance with which the concerns of food additives and their labeling are mediated.^[6]

There has been significant controversy associated with the risks and benefits of food additives. Some artificial food additives have been linked with cancer, digestive problems, neurological conditions in addition to ADHD, and diseases like heart disease or obesity.^{[citation needed]} Even "natural" additives may be harmful in certain quantities (table salt, for example) or because of allergic reactions in certain individuals. Safrole was used to flavour root beer until it was shown to be carcinogenic. Due to the application of the Delaney clause, it may not be added to foods, even though it occurs naturally in sassafras and sweet basil.^[7]

Standardization of its derived products

ISO has published a series of standards regarding the topic and these standards are covered by ICS 67.220.^[8]

See also

Food portal

• Color retention agent
• Delaney clause
• Dietary supplement
• Food fortification
• Food labeling regulations
• Food processing
• Food supplements
• Organic food additive
• Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives
• List of food additives
• List of food additives, Codex Alimentarius
• Organic fertilizer
• Sugar substitute

References

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (February 2008)

1. ^ Codex Alimentarius. "Noms de Categorie et Systeme International de Numerotation des Additifs Alimentaires". http://www.codexalimentarius.net/download/standards/7/cxg_036f.pdf. Retrieved 2 April 2009. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Bucci, Luke (1995). Nutrition applied to injury rehabilitation and sports medicine. Boca Raton: CRC Press. pp. 151. ISBN 0-8493-7913-X. 
3. ^ Rev. Lyman Abbott (Ed.) (1900). The Outlook (Vol. 64). Outlook Co.. pp. 403. 
4. ^ Assessment of technologies for determining cancer risks from the environment. Darby, PA, USA: DIANE publishing. 1981. pp. 177. ISBN 142892437X. 
5. ^ McCann, D; Barrett, A; Cooper, A; Crumpler, D; Dalen, L; Grimshaw, K; Kitchin, E; Lok, K et al. (2007), "Food additives and hyperactive behaviour in 3-year-old and 8/9-year-old children in the community: a randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial.", Lancet 370 (9598): 1560-7, PMID 17825405, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17825405?ordinalpos=7&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum 
6. ^ Food Standards Australia New Zealand (2007). "Choosing the Right Stuff - the official shoppers’ guide to food additives and labels, kilojoules and fat content". http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/newsroom/publications/choosingtherightstuff/. Retrieved 3 May 2009. 
7. ^ Fennema, Owen R. (1996). Food chemistry. New York, N.Y: Marcel Dekker. pp. 827. ISBN 0-8247-9691-8. 
8. ^ International Organization for Standardization. "67.220: Spices and condiments. Food additives". http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_ics/catalogue_ics_browse.htm?ICS1=67&ICS2=220. Retrieved 23 April 2009. 

• 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

External links

• Food Trade's Juicy Secrets by John Triggs in the Daily Express July 17 2007
• Everything Added to Food in the United States (EAFUS) i.e. Castor oil, etc.
• EU legislation on food additives
• CSPI's guide to food additives, (PDF)
• Food Standards Australia and New Zealand page on food additives
• FreeWare on-line database with mobile access of the food additives, ingredients etc

v • d • e Food chemistry Additives · Carbohydrates · Coloring · Enzymes · Essential fatty acids · Flavors · Lipids · Minerals · Proteins · Vitamins · Water

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Food additives play a vital role in today’s food supply. Because most Americans do not grow their own food, additives extend the shelf life of groceries, making it possible to obtain safe, wholesome, and tasty foods year-round.

Additives are used for five main reasons: to maintain product consistency, to improve or maintain nutritional value, to maintain palatability and wholesomeness, to provide leavening and control acidity/alkalinity, or to enhance flavor and color.

Some additives come from natural sources while others are man-made. Salt, baking soda, vanilla, and yeast are some of the most common. All food additives are regulated by federal authorities and various international organizations to ensure that foods are safe to eat and are accurately labeled.

Glossary of Terms

Anticaking and Free-Flow Agents
prevent lumping, clustering, or caking in crystalline and finely divided powders; absorb water.

Antimicrobal Agents
prevent the growth of microorganisms such as yeast, mold, and bacteria.

Antioxidants
retard the oxidation of unsaturated fats and oils, colorings, and flavorings.

Bleaching or Maturing Agents
are added to flour during or after milling to improve the color and baking qualities.

Chelating Agents
trap trace amounts of metal atoms that would otherwise cause food to discolor or go rancid.

Colors
provide or enhance the color of food.

Curing Agents
impart color and flavor to foods, increase shelf stability.

Dough Conditioners
modify the starch and/or protein (gluten) fractions of flour.

Drying Agents
absorb moisture to maintain a “dry” environment for the food or ingredient.

Emulsifiers
keep oil and water mixed together.

Enzymes
are proteins that catalyze (speed up) reactions.

Firming Agents
act on pectins to help them resist the softening that may accompany food processing (canning).

Flavor Enhancers
accentuate the natural flavor of foods; usually used when very little of a natural ingredient is present.

Flavoring Agents
add flavor or aroma or replace flavors lost in processing.

Formulation Aids
help to produce the desired texture of the food.

Fumigants
are used to control pests (insects, molds, etc.).

Humectants
help foods to retain moisture.

Leavening Agents
produce carbon dioxide (usually in baked products) to give a characteristic texture.

Lubricants
are added to food-contact surfaces to prevent food from sticking.

Non-Nutritive Sweeteners
provide the sweetness of sugar with less than 2% of the calories.

Nutrient Supplements
provide essential nutrients for human metabolism.

Nutritive Sweeteners
sweeten food, but add more than 2% of the calories of a sugar-sweetened product.

Oxidizing and Reducing Agents
cause chemical changes (oxidize or reduce) to help make the product more acceptable, easier to process, or more stable.

pH Control Substances
affect the acidity/alkalinity of a product or ingredient.

Processing Aids
enhance the ability of a food ingredient to be processed into a desired end product.

Propellants and Aerating Agents
provide force for the expulsion of a product or add “air” to a product.

Sequestrants
combine with metal ions to prevent the metal from entering into unwanted reactions.

Solvents
are used to separate one substance from another.

Stabilizers and Thickeners
increase the viscosity of a solution to improve body, consistency, and prevent emulsions from separating.

Surface Active Agents
modify the surface properties (surface tension) of liquid food ingredients to enhance characteristics such as whipping, foaming or antifoaming, wetting, and dispersing.

Synergists
interact with other food ingredients to produce an effect that is greater than the additive effect of the two ingredients alone.

Texturizers
alter the viscosity and “feel” of food.

Thickening Agents
absorb some of the liquid that is present in food, thereby making the food thicker.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “Food Additives,” http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~lrd/foodaddi.html