Student name: YINI PAOLA CHIVATA

Date: 9/3/ 2018

TYPE AND ID #: C.C.52902735

Food additives

1) Describe the purpose of food additives.

Food additives are substances added to food to preserve flavor or enhance its taste and app
earance. Some additives have been used for centuries; for example, preserving food by pickl
ing3 (with vinegar), salting, as with bacon, preserving sweets or using sulfur dioxide as in so
me wines

2) Explain three different types of food additives.

i) Natural flavoring substances

Flavoring substances obtained from plant or animal raw materials, by physical, microbiolog
ical or enzymatic processes. They can be either used in their natural state or processed for h
uman consumption, but cannot contain any nature‐identical or artificial flavoring substances

ii) Nature‐identical flavoring substances

Flavoring substances that are obtained by synthesis or isolated through chemical processes,
which are chemically and organoleptically identical to flavoring substances naturally present
in products intended for human consumption. They cannot contain any artificial flavoring s
ubstances

iii) Artificial flavoring substances

Flavoring substances not identified in a natural product intended for human consumption,
Whether or not the product is processed. These are typically produced by fractional distil
lation and additional chemical manipulation of naturally sourced chemicals, crude oil
or coal tar.
Although they are chemically different, in sensory characteristics are the same as natural on
es.

© CommNet 2014
3) Complete the table below.

Food additive Description Example of food

products
Preservatives Preservatives prevent or inhibit spoilage of food -Unnatural juices,
due, bacteria and other microorganisms sodas

Antioxidants Carrot, mango,

Antioxidants such as vitamin C act as preservatives peach, pumpkin…
by inhibiting the effects of oxygen on food, and ca
n be beneficial to health

Colors In contrast to colorings, color retention agents are Mustard, sauces…

used to preserve a food's existing color.

Sweeteners Sweeteners are added to foods for flavoring. Sweet Unnatural juices,
eners other than sugar are added to keep the food sodas,
energy (calories) low, or because they have benefic confectionery
ial effects for diabetes mellitus51 and tooth decay
and diarrhea.

Anti-caking Anticaking agents keep powders such as milk powd Instant soup,
agents er from caking or sticking sauces, cake shop

Anti-foaming Antifoaming agents reduce or prevent foaming in Sodas, oils

agents foods.

Emulsifiers Margarine,
Emulsifiers allow water and oils to remain mixed to mayonnaise,
gether in an emulsion, as in mayonnaise, ice cream chocolate
and homogenized milk

© CommNet 2014
 Stabilizers Sauces, creams,
Stabilizers, thickeners and gelling agents, like agar smoothies, ice
or pectin (used in jam for example) give foods a fir crams
mer texture. While they are not true emulsifiers, th
ey help to stabilize emulsions.

Gelling Gelling agents in food and beverage applications Jellies, gums

agents give more stability to the product and can extend
the shelf life of the product by primarily giving it
more structure.

Thickeners Thickeners are substances which, when added to t Jellies, jams

he mixture, increase its viscosity
without substantially modifying its other properti
es

4) What are the benefits to health of food additives?

Many food additives absorb radiation in the ultraviolet and / or visible region of the spectru
m This absorbance can be used to determine the concentration of an additive in a sa
mple using external calibration. However, additives may occur together and the absorbanc
e by one could interfere with the absorbance of another. A prior separation stage is necessa
ry and the additives are first separated by high liquid chromatography (HPLC) and then deter
mined on‐line using a UV and/or visible detector.

© CommNet 2014
5) What role does the European Food Safety Agency
(EFSA) play in ensuring the safe use of food additives?

To regulate these additives, and inform consumers, each additive is assigned a unique numb
er, termed as "E numbers", which is used in Europe for all approved additives. This numberi
ng scheme has now been adopted and extended by the Codex Alimentarius Commission to i
nternationally 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, wheth
er 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 app
roved for use in Australia and New Zealand. Since 1987, Australia has had an approved syste
m of labelling for additives in packaged foods. Each food additive has to be named or numbe
red. The numbers are the same as in Europe, but without the prefix 'E'.

© CommNet 2014