SEMINAR ON FOODADDITIVES
TABLE OF
CONTENT
Title page
Certification page
Dedication
Acknowledgement
Abstract
Table of content
Chapter one
Introduction
Definition of Food Additives
Kinds of food additives
Chapter two
Benefits of food additives on human
nutrition
Chapter three
Hazards of food additives to human
health
Chapter four
Conclusion
Reference
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
For centuries, ingredients have served useful
functions in a variety of foods. Our ancestors used salt to preserve meats and
fish, added herbs and spices to improve the flavor of foods, preserved fruit
with sugar, and pickled cucumbers in a vinegar solution. Today, consumers demand
and enjoy a food supply that is flavorful, nutritious, safe, convenient,
colorful and affordable. Food additives and advances in technology help make
that possible.
There are thousands of ingredients used
to make foods. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) maintains a list of over
3000 ingredients in its data base "Everything Added to Food in the United
States", many of which we use at home every day (e.g., sugar, baking soda,
salt, vanilla, yeast, spices and colors).
Still, some consumers
have concerns about additives because they may see the long, unfamiliar names
and think of them as complex chemical compounds. In fact, every food we eat -
whether a just-picked strawberry or a homemade cookie - is made up of chemical
compounds that determine flavor, color, texture and nutrient value. All food
additives are carefully regulated by federal authorities and various
international organizations to ensure that foods are safe to eat and are
accurately labeled.
The purpose of this
brochure is to provide helpful background information about food and color
additives: what they are, why they are used in foods and how they are regulated
for safe use.
DEFINITION
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 (with vinegar), salting, as with bacon, preserving sweets or using sulfur dioxide as with 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.
In its broadest sense, a food additive is any substance added to food.
Legally, the term refers to "any substance the intended use of which
results or may reasonably be expected to result -- directly or indirectly -- in
its becoming a component or otherwise affecting the characteristics of any
food." This definition includes any substance used in the production,
processing, treatment, packaging, transportation or storage of food. The
purpose of the legal definition, however, is to impose a premarket approval
requirement. Therefore, this definition excludes ingredients whose use is
generally recognized as safe (where government approval is not needed), those
ingredients approved for use by FDA or the U.S. Department of Agriculture prior
to the food additives provisions of law, and color additives and pesticides
where other legal premarket approval requirements apply.
Direct food additives
are those that are added to a food for a specific purpose in that food. For
example, xanthan gum -- used in salad dressings, chocolate milk, bakery
fillings, puddings and other foods to add texture -- is a direct additive. Most
direct additives are identified on the ingredient label of foods.
Indirect food additives
are those that become part of the food in trace amounts due to its packaging,
storage or other handling. For instance, minute amounts of packaging substances
may find their way into foods during storage. Food packaging manufacturers must
prove to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that all materials coming
in contact with food are safe before they are permitted for use in such a
manner.
The United States Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) defines food additives as ‘any substance, the intended use
of which results or may reasonably be expected to result, directly or
indirectly, in its becoming a component or otherwise affecting the
characteristics of any food.’ In other words, an additive is any substance that
is added to food.
According to wiley Dictionary Food
Additives is defined as Substances that
are added to foods to prevent spoilage, improve appearance, enhance the flavor
or texture, or increase the nutritional value.
Also
I defined it as Substances that are added to foods for their improved benefit,
be it flavor, shelf life, texture improvement, color, or other improvements to
the physical, chemical, or sensory attributes.
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KIND OF FOOD
ADDITIVES
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) • flavor 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).
Center for Food
Safety and Applied Nutrition, Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services.
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CHAPTERNTWO
BENEFITS OF
FOODADDITIVES
Direct additives are those that are
intentionally added to foods for a specific purpose. Indirect additives are
those to which the food is exposed during processing, packaging, or storing.
Preservatives are additives that inhibit the growth of bacteria, yeasts, and
molds in foods.
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.
1.
To Maintain or Improve Safety and
Freshness: Preservatives slow product spoilage caused by mold, air,
bacteria, fungi or yeast. In addition to maintaining the quality of the food,
they help control contamination that can cause foodborne illness, including
life-threatening botulism. One group of preservatives -- antioxidants --
prevents fats and oils and the foods containing them from becoming rancid or
developing an off-flavor. They also prevent cut fresh fruits such as apples
from turning brown when exposed to air.
2.
To Improve or Maintain Nutritional
Value: Vitamins and minerals (and fiber) are added to many foods to
make up for those lacking in a person's diet or lost in processing, or to
enhance the nutritional quality of a food. Such fortification and enrichment
has helped reduce malnutrition in the U.S. and worldwide. All products
containing added nutrients must be appropriately labeled.
Improve Taste, Texture and Appearance: Spices, natural
and artificial flavors, and sweeteners are added to enhance the taste of food.
Food colors maintain or improve appearance. Emulsifiers, stabilizers and
thickeners give foods the texture and consistency consumers expect. Leavening
agents allow baked goods to rise during baking. Some additives help control the
acidity and alkalinity of foods, while other ingredients help maintain the
taste and appeal of foods with reduced fat content.
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.
Sequestrates : 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.
Some additives, such as salt used to cure meats, have been around for millennia. In the 20th century, advances in chemical and food engineering brought endless innovations in additives, resulting in the products currently lining supermarket shelves all around the globe.
Below is a rough categorization of additive types. Some additives belong to more than one category. For example, sugar is both a preservative and a sweetener. All additives are safe for consumption, according to the FDA, otherwise they wouldn’t be allowed… Consumer groups don’t always agree. They are concerned about the effects/benefit of some artificial additives on human health.
1. Acids – added to make flavors “sharper”, and also act as preservatives and antioxidants. Common food acids include vinegar , citric acid, and ascorbic acid (vitamin C).
2. Anticaking agents – keep powders such as milk powder from caking or sticking. A very popular one is sodium bicarbonate (baking soda).
3. Bulking agents – additives that increase the bulk of a food without affecting its nutritional value. As examples, you’ll often find modified food starch or modified corn starch and on labels.
4. Food coloring – added to food to replace colors lost during preparation, or to make food look more attractive. May be natural or artificial, the latter are much cheaper to use. Unfortunately, artificial food colorings, such as Yellow 5 have been linked to behavioral problems in children. Some food colorings approved for use in the US have been banned in Europe and Japan.
5. Emulsifiers – allow water and oils to remain mixed together in an emulsion, as in mayonnaise, ice cream, and homogenized milk. On labels look for sodium phosphates, lecithin, and diglycerides, to name a few.
6. Stabilizers / gelling agents – give foods a firmer texture, and help to stabilize emulsions. Pectin and agar are examples used in making jellies and jams.
7. Thickeners – similar to emulsifiers/stabilizers – increase a mixture’s viscosity without modifying its other properties. May be derived from starches or from proteins. Xantham gum is commonly used as a thickener.
8. Flavors – natural and artificial – while natural sounds healthier, this may not always be the case (see poison mushrooms). Flavors are added to foods to enhance their aroma and entice you to buy them and then eat them.
9. Humectants – prevent foods from drying up. Glycerine is an example.
10. Preservatives – prevent food from spoiling due to to mold, bacteria and other microorganisms. Three natural preservatives are salt, sugar, and vinegar. But there are many more artificial preservatives in use today, such as nitrates and nitrites found in meats. Home baked bread goes stale after 36 hours, and starts to develop mold within 4 days, but a loaf from the supermarket will keep for more than a week due to propionates which prevent mold.
11. Sweeteners – bet you figured this one out on your own. Sugar and high fructose corn syrup (HFCS, yes some call it the mother of all evil) are considered natural, whereas splenda and sucralose are artificial and contain close to zero calories, making them a possible solution for weight watchers and diabetics.
CHAPTER THREE
HAZARDS OF FOOD ADDITIVES TO HUMAN HEALTH
Although these additives are essential for food storage, they can give rise to certain problems they can cause different allergies and conditions such as hyperactivity and attention deficit disorder in some people who are sensitive to specific chemicals. The food containing additives can cause asthma, hay fever, and certain reactions such as rashes, tight chest, vomiting, headache, hives and worsening of eczema. Some of the known possible dangers of their usage are as follows
1. Colorings : Cause
hyperactivity in children and trigger asthma
Although this hypothesis was
popularized in the 1970's, results from studies on this issue either have been
inconclusive, inconsistent, or difficult to interpret due to inadequacies in
study design. A Consensus Development Panel of the National Institutes of
Health concluded in 1982 that for some children with attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and confirmed food allergy, dietary modification
has produced some improvement in behavior. Although the panel said that
elimination diets should not be used universally to treat childhood
hyperactivity, since there is no scientific evidence to predict which children
may benefit, the panel recognized that initiation of a trial of dietary
treatment or continuation of a diet in patients whose families and physicians
perceive benefits may be warranted. However, a 1997 review published in
the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent
Psychiatry noted there is minimal evidence of efficacy and extreme
difficulty inducing children and adolescents to comply with restricted diets.
Thus, dietary treatment should not be recommended, except possibly with a small
number of preschool children who may be sensitive to tartrazine, known commonly
as FD&C Yellow No.5 (See question below). In 2007, synthetic certified
color additives again came under scrutiny following publication of a study
commissioned by the UK Food Standards Agency to investigate whether certain
color additives cause hyperactivity in children. Both the FDA and the European
Food Safety Authority independently reviewed the results from this study and
each has concluded that the study does not substantiate a link between the
color additives that were tested and behavioral effects
2. preservatives : Destroy
vitamin B1 and may cause cancer
3. Benzoates can
trigger allergies such as skin rashes and asthma as well as believed to cause
brain damage
4. Bromates destroy
the nutrient in the foods . it can give rise to
nausea and diarrhea
5. Butylate are
responsible for high blood chelesterol levels as well as impaired liver and
kidney function
6. Caffeine is a
colorant and flavorant that has diuretic, stimulant properties. it can cause
nervousness, heart palpitations, and occasionally heart defects.
7. Saccharin cause
toxic reaction and gives rise to an allergic response affecting the skin,
gastrointestinal tract, and heart. it may cause tumors and bladder cancer.
8. Red dye 40 is
suspected to cause certain birth defects and possible cancer.
9. Mono and
diglycerides can cause birth defects, generic change, and cancer.
10. Sodium chlorine
can lead to high blood pressure, kidney failure, stroke, and heart attack.
CHAPTER
FOUR
CONCLUSION
Food ingredients have been used for
many years to preserve, flavor, blend, thicken and color foods, and have played
an important role in reducing serious nutritional deficiencies among consumers.
These ingredients also help ensure the availability of flavorful, nutritious,
safe, convenient, colorful and affordable foods that meet consumer expectations
year-round.
Food and color additives are strictly
studied, regulated and monitored. Federal regulations require evidence that
each substance is safe at its intended level of use before it may be added to
foods.
Furthermore, all additives are subject to
ongoing safety review as scientific understanding and methods of testing
continue to improve. Consumers should feel safe about the foods they eat.
To minimize the risk of developing
health problems, avoid the intake of foods containing additives and
preservatives.
REFERENCE
1.
^ Codex Alimentarius. "Class Names and the International
Numbering System for Food Additives.". http://www.codexalimentarius.net/download/standards/7/CXG_036e.pdf.
3.
^ a b Bucci, Luke (1995). Nutrition applied to injury
rehabilitation and sports medicine. Boca Raton: CRC Press.
pp. 151. ISBN 0-8493-7913-X.
5.
^ Assessment of technologies for determining cancer risks
from the environment. Darby, PA, USA: DIANE publishing. 1981.
pp. 177. ISBN 1-4289-2437-X.
6.
^ 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. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(07)61306-3. PMID 17825405.
7.
^ 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.
9.
^ Fennema, Owen R. (1996). Food chemistry. New
York, N.Y: Marcel Dekker. pp. 827. ISBN 0-8247-9691-8.
10.
^ a b http://www.sixwise.com/newsletters/06/04/05/12-dangerous-food-additives-the-dirty-dozen-food-additives-you-really-need-to-be-aware-of.htm
14. ^ 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.
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