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Information about Food Additive

Food additives are substances added to food to preserve flavor 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 Committee 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.

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

Categories

Food additives can be divided into several groups, although there is some overlap between them.
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. ;Emulsifiers : Emulsifiers allow water and oils to remain mixed together in an emulsion, as in mayonnaise, ice cream, and homogenized milk. ;Flavours : Flavors are additives that give food a particular taste or smell, and may be derived from natural ingredients or created artificially. ;Flavour 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. ;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.

Other Info

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.

Most food additives are considered safe. However, some are known to be carcinogenic or toxic. Hyperactivity in children, allergies, asthma, and migraines are often associated with adverse reactions to food additives.

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'.

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.).

External links

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Food chemistry
Carbohydrates • Colors • Enzymes • Flavors • Food additives • Lipids • Minerals • Proteins • Vitamins • Water
Pickling, also known as brining or corning, is the process of preserving food by anaerobic fermentation in brine (a solution of salt in water), to produce lactic acid, or marinating and storing it in an acid solution, usually vinegar (acetic acid).
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Vinegar is a liquid produced from the fermentation of ethanol in a process that yields its key ingredient, acetic acid. The acetic acid concentration ranges typically from 4 to 8 percent by volume for table vinegar[1]
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Salt is a mineral essential for animal life, composed primarily of sodium chloride. Salt for human consumption is produced in different forms: unrefined salt (such as sea salt), refined salt (table salt), and iodized salt.
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Bacon is defined as any of certain cuts of meat taken from the sides, belly or back of a pig that may be cured and/or smoked. Meat from other animals may also be cured or otherwise prepared to resemble bacon, such as chicken,goat or turkey bacon.
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SweetS (スイーツ Suiitsu
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Sulfur dioxide (also sulphur dioxide) is the chemical compound with the formula SO2. This important gas is the main product from the combustion of sulfur compounds and is of significant environmental concern.
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Wine is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermentation of grape juice.[1] The natural chemical balance of grapes is such that they can ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes or other nutrients.
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twentieth century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1901 and ended on December 31, 2000, according to the Gregorian calendar. Some historians consider the era from about 1914 to 1991 to be the Short Twentieth Century.
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E numbers are codes for food additives and are usually found on food labels throughout the European Union. The numbering scheme follows that of the International Numbering System (INS) as determined by the Codex Alimentarius committee.
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Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth. Physically and geologically, Europe is the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, west of Asia. Europe is bounded to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the Mediterranean Sea,
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The Codex Alimentarius (Latin for "food code" or "food book") is a collection of internationally recognized standards, codes of practice, guidelines and other recommendations relating to foods, food production and food safety under the aegis of consumer protection.
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E is the fifth letter in the Latin alphabet. Its name in English is spelled e (IPA: /iː/), plural es or ees (also written E's, Es, e's, etc.).
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Acetic acid, also known as ethanoic acid, is an organic chemical compound best recognized for giving vinegar its sour taste and pungent smell. Its structural formula is represented as CH3COOH.
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A. tinctoria

Binomial name
Alkanna tinctoria
(L.) Tausch

The name alkanet generally refers to Alkanna tinctoria or Dyer's Bugloss (though it may be used for
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Anthem
Advance Australia Fair [1]


Capital Canberra

Largest city Sydney
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Anthem
"God Defend New Zealand"
"God Save the Queen" 1


Capital Wellington

Largest city Auckland
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Motto
"In God We Trust"   (since 1956)
"E Pluribus Unum"   ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
Anthem
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Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and is responsible the safety regulation of most types of foods, dietary supplements, drugs, vaccines, biological medical products, blood products, medical devices,
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Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) is a United States of America Food and Drug Administration (FDA) designation that a chemical or substance added to food is considered safe by experts, and so is exempted from the usual Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) food
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CAS registry numbers are unique numerical identifiers for chemical compounds, polymers, biological sequences, mixtures and alloys. They are also referred to as CAS numbers, CAS RNs or CAS #s.
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The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) is the codification of the general and permanent rules and regulations (sometimes called administrative law) published in the Federal Register by the executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government of the United States.
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  • 1,4-heptonolactone - food acid
  • 2-hydroxybiphenyl - preservative

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  • Abietic acid -
  • Acacia vera -
  • Acacia -
  • Acesulfame K -

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E numbers are codes for food additives and are usually found on food labels throughout the European Union. The numbering scheme follows that of the International Numbering System (INS) as determined by the Codex Alimentarius committee.
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ACID (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability) is a set of properties that guarantee that database transactions are processed reliably. In the context of databases, a single logical operation on the data is called a transaction.
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Vinegar is a liquid produced from the fermentation of ethanol in a process that yields its key ingredient, acetic acid. The acetic acid concentration ranges typically from 4 to 8 percent by volume for table vinegar[1]
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Citric acid is a weak organic acid found in citrus fruits. It is a natural preservative and is also used to add an acidic (sour) taste to foods and soft drinks. In biochemistry, it is important as an intermediate in the citric acid cycle and therefore occurs in the metabolism of
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Tartaric acid is a white crystalline organic acid. It occurs naturally in many plants, particularly grapes, bananas, and tamarinds, and is one of the main acids found in wine. It is added to other foods to give a sour taste, and is used as an antioxidant.

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Malic acid is a tart-tasting organic dicarboxylic acid that plays a role in many sour or tart foods. In its ionised form it is malate, an intermediate of the TCA cycle along with fumarate. It can also be formed from pyruvate as one of the anaplerotic reactions.
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Fumaric acid is the chemical compound with the formula HO2CCH=CHCO2H. This colorless crystalline compound is one of two isomeric unsaturated dicarboxylic acids, the other being maleic acid wherein the carboxylic acid groups are cis.
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Lactic acid (IUPAC systematic name: 2-hydroxypropanoic acid), also known as milk acid, is a chemical compound that plays a role in several biochemical processes.
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