Food Additives

Despite their association with modernday food production, food additives have been used for centuries in preserving and improving the appearance and colour of food.

Content
Preservatives Flavouring Agents Colouring Agents Emulsifiers, Stabilizers and Thickeners Nutrients Antioxidants Harmful Effects of Food Additives Monitoring of Use of Food Additives

Preservatives
Preservatives Flavouring Agents Colouring Agents Emulsifiers, Stabilizers and Thickeners Nutrients Antioxidants Harmful Effects of Food Additives Monitoring of Use of Food Additives

Nitrates (III) and Nitrates (V) Sulphur Dioxide and Sulphates (IV) Benzoic Acid and Benzoates Sorbic Acid and Sorbates Propanoic Acid and Propanoates

Flavouring Agents
Preservatives Flavouring Agents Colouring Agents Emulsifiers, Stabilizers and Thickeners Nutrients Antioxidants Harmful Effects of Food Additives Monitoring of Use of Food Additives

Spices Monosodium Glutamate Esters Saccharin Artificial Flavouring Common food Flavouring

Colouring Agents
Preservatives Flavouring Agents Colouring Agents Emulsifiers, Stabilizers and Thickeners Nutrients Antioxidants Harmful Effects of Food Additives Monitoring of Use of Food Additives

Natural Colourings Synthetic Colourings

Emulsifiers, Stabilizers and Thickeners

Preservatives Flavouring Agents Colouring Agents Emulsifiers, Stabilizers and Thickeners Nutrients Antioxidants Harmful Effects of Food Additives Monitoring of Use of Food Additives

Carboxymethymethyl cellulose Xanthan Gum Pectin Dextrins Sodium Alginate

Nutrients
Preservatives Flavouring Agents Colouring Agents Emulsifiers, Stabilizers and Thickeners Nutrients Antioxidants Harmful Effects of Food Additives Monitoring of Use of Food Additives

Vitamins Minerals & Iodine

Antioxidants
Preservatives Flavouring Agents Colouring Agents Emulsifiers, Stabilizers and Thickeners Nutrients Antioxidants Harmful Effects of Food Additives Monitoring of Use of Food Additives

Ascorbic Acid and Ascorbates BHA and BHT

Harmful Effects of Food Additives

Preservatives Flavouring Agents Colouring Agents Emulsifiers, Stabilizers and Thickeners Nutrients Antioxidants Harmful Effects of Food Additives Monitoring of Use of Food Additives

Allergies Hyperactivity Long-term illnesses Controversy over BHA and BHT Side Effects of MSG Toxicity and Potent carcinogenic Nature of Nitrates (III) Toxicity of sulphur dioxide Potent carcinogenic nature of saccharin

Monitoring the Use of Food Additives

Preservatives Flavouring Agents Colouring Agents Emulsifiers, Stabilizers and Thickeners Nutrients Antioxidants Harmful Effects of Food Additives Monitoring of Use of Food Additives

By Research By Legislation

Nitrates (III) and Nitrates (V)

Nitrates (III) and nitrates (V) of sodium and potassium
Slow down microbial growth Maintain the pink colour of meat Prevent botulism in canned foods

Sulphur Dioxide and Sulphates (IV)

Maintain the colour and the vitamin C content of the food Prevent fruit tissues from browning Provide an acidic medium that is not favourable for microbial growth

Benzoic Acid and Benzoates

Preventing mould and yeast from growing Widely used in jams, fruit juices, oyster sauce(), margarine(), non-alcoholic beverages and pickled() products

Sorbic Acid and Sorbates

Prevent mould formation Mainly used in cheese and in flour confectionery()

Propanoic Acid and Propanoates

Prevent the formation of mould in bread. Used in chocolate products and cheese.

Spices

Cinnamon and ginger are examples of natural spices Chemicals which stimulate our taste buds Commonly used in chicken broth, oyster sauce, soup bases for instant noodles, many fast foods and restaurants dishes.

Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)

Does not add any taste to food But is a flavour enhancer. It can bring out the flavour of food, particularly meat products Commonly used in chicken broth, oyster sauce, soup bases for instant noodles and dim sums(). Side Effects of MSG

Esters
The sweet smell in fruit is due to the presence of ester compounds Naturals fruit flavours can be extracted from fruits and other plant materials Most fruit flavouring used in the food industry are synthetic compounds Esters are used in ice-cream and many fruit juices e.g. ethyl ethanoate which has a pineapple flavour.

Saccharin
Kind of sweetener Used as a sugar substitute or diet sugar. Saccharin has no food value Sweetness about 500 times that table sugar

Artificial Flavouring
Although flavourings can be extracted from natural sources, the demand for flavouring in the food industry has outstripped the supply. Therefore, artificial flavours are being produced. Artificial flavouring are closely resembles the natural product.

Common food Flavouring

Flavour
Camphor Cinnamon

Food Additive
Bornyl acetate Cinnamaldehyde

Ginger
Grape Lemon Orange

Ginger oil
Methyl anthranilate Citral Orange oil

Pear
Peppermint Rum Spearmint Spicy Vanilla Wintergreen

Amyl butyrate
Menthol Ethyl formate Carvone Ethyl cinnamate Ethyl vanillin Methyl salicylate

Natural Colourings
Caramel Brown colouring Used in oyster sauce Carotene Yellow dye present in carrots Used to colour butter and margarine Chlorophyll Green dye extracted from plants Used to colour edible oils

Synthetic Colourings
Indigo carmine Purple blue dye combination with yellow colouring Used for confectionery, candies and liqueurs Tartrazine Yellow dye Used in Pudding Powders, candies, ice-cream and pop drinks Sunset Yellow Orange dye Used in candies, honey-like products, sea salmons and crabs()

Carboxymethylcellulose
Used to stabilize batter for coating steaks and fish fillets

Xanthan Gum
Used in Salad dressings, dessert toppings and frozen pizzas

Pectin
Used to make the gel in jams and jellies

Dextrins
Used to emulsify and stabilize cream, mayonnaise() and salad dressings

Sodium Alginate
Commonly used to emulsify and stabilize ice-cream, yogurt, sauces and syrups( )

Vitamins
Vitamin C for fruit juices Vitamin B for enriched flour Vitamin D for milk and margarine

Minerals & Iodine

Ammonium ferric citrate in infant milk formulations and bread flour Iodine in iodized salt

Ascorbic Acid and Ascorbates

Ascorbic Acid
Chemical name of Vitamin C Reducing in nature Reduce the amount of dissolved oxygen in food

Ascorbic Acid and Ascorbates

Antioxidants for water-soluble fatty products

BHA and BHT

BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole) BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene) Commonly used antioxidants for fat-soluble fatty products Similar properties to the natural antioxidant, vitamin E

BHA and BHT

They appear to work by donating the H atom of the OH group to the free hydroperoxide redical (ROO) involved in the autoxidation of fats and oil, thereby stopping the chain reactions in oxidative spoilage. AH + ROO ROOH + A where AH represents the antioxidant, and A is a radical derived from the antioxidant e.g.

C(CH3)3
C(CH3)3 OCH3 OCH3 Antioxidant radicals from BHA

Allergies
Some people are allergic to certain additives. It is suspected that MSG and Tartrazine may cause rashes, stomach upsets and asthma.

Hyperactivity
In the 1970s, it was suggested by some scientists that food additives may be linked to hyperactivity and attention deficient disease (ADD) in children Some hyperactive children show improvement when fed with additive-free diets Well-controlled studies have produced no evidence of these additives causing hyperactivity or learning disabilities in children

Long-term illnesses
Some additives, such as sodium nitrate (III), are suspected to be carcinogens Some additives are believed to be the causes of some long-term illnesses

Controversy over BHA and BHT

Small amount of BHT shown to prevent cancer Larger amounts can cause cancer

Side effects of MSG

Some people allergic to MSG Dizziness Thirst Headache Chest pain Sweating Abdominal discomfort

Chinese Restaurant Syndrome / MSG Syndrome

Toxicity and potent carcinogenic nature of nitrates

Short term
Decrease in haemoglobin in blood

Long term
Malnutrition Growth retardation Impairment of reproductive capacity reduced lifespan

Toxicity and potent carcinogenic nature of nitrates (III)

In the stomach, nitrates (III) are first converted to nitric (III) acid. NaNO2(aq) + HCl(aq) HNO2(aq) + NaCl(aq)
Stomach acid

Under certain conditions, nitric (III) acid reacts with secondary amines, which are released during digestion of proteins, to from nitrosamines. HNO2(aq) + R2NH(aq) R2N-N=O(aq) + H2O(l)
Secondary amine
nitrosamine

Toxicity of Sulphur Dioxide

Sulphur dioxide is poisonous Attack respiratory system

Potent carcinogenic nature of saccharin

Bitter aftertaste which renders it unpleasant to some users High doses cause cancer

Research
Salt, sugar, vitamins and some minerals had long been used as additives to food and are Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) No food additive may be used unless it has been extensively tested on animals

Legislation in World
In USA
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for monitoring the safety, purity, and wholesomeness of food additives

In UK
Food Advisory Committee compiles in European Economic Community, a permitted food additive is assigned a E number.

Legislation in World
Type of Additive Colouring Preservatives Flavourings E Number Most begin with 1 Most begin with 2 Not numbered

Antioxidants
Emulsifiers and stabilizers Sweeteners

E300 321
E322 and some numbers between E400 and E495 Most begin with 4 or 6

Legislation in Hong Kong

Legislate permissible additives and maximum limits of additives in particular foods Require supply of information as to composition of substances used in the preparation of food Check on food labeling Inspect food- processing industries Take samples for chemical analyses on foods and food additives Seize and destroy food Prosecute for false labeling, advertisement, using non-permitted additives or using additives beyond the permissible limits.