CONTENTS:

 Introduction.
 Additives.
 Food Color.
i. Natural Food Color.
ii. Artificial Food Color.
 Artificial Sweetners.
i. Some Artificial
Sweetners.
ii. Uses.
 Preservatives.
1. Uses.
 Harmful Chemicals in Food.
 Conclusion.
INTRODUCTION:

Chemistry has helped the modern

world in various ways. One such
important
contributi
on has
been the
advent of
chemicals
in our day
to day
food. Actually, there are three main
functions that chemicals perform when
they are added to food, these are:
 They help preserve the food. Most of
the processed food we find in
the market have a shelf life varying
between a few months to even a few
years. This is only possible because
 we add chemicals to these foods as
preservatives.
 Sometimes chemicals can be added
to food to improve their physical
appearance. Certain chemicals will
help the producers boost the appeal
and make them more attractive to
consumers. They serve a purely
cosmetic purpose.
 And of course, chemicals can also
add nutritional value to foods.

ADDITIVES:
Chemicals in food are known as
additives. There are many types of
additives we use currently that are
considered safe for human consumption.
But not all of these are considered
healthy.
Here are a few chemicals we use in food:
 Food Colours
 Artificial Sweeteners
 Artificial Flavors
 Stabilizing agents
 Preservatives
 Supplements
 Trans Fats.
The following section focuses on :
1. FOOD COLOURS
2. ARTIFICIAL SWEETNERS
3. PRESERVATIVES.

An astonishing amount of the foods we

eat is processed. These foods are altered
from their natural states to make them
safe, say, to remove harmful bacteria, or
to make them appealing and to prolong
their shelf life.

Natural Food Coloring:

To avoid so much processed food, some
have advocated using natural food
coloring, whenever possible. Natural
dyes have been used for centuries to
color food. Some of the most common
ones are carotenoids, chlorophyll,
anthocyanin, and turmeric.
Carotenoids have a deep red, yellow, or
orange color. Probably the most common
carotenoid is beta-carotene ,which is
responsible for the bright orange color of
sweet potatoes and pumpkins.
( BETA-CAROTENOIDS)

Chlorophyll is another natural pigment,

found in all green plants. The best
natural source for deep purple and blue
colors is anthocyanin.
(ANTHOCYANIN)
Artificial Food Color:
Artificial dyes might be longer-lasting
than natural ones of the same color.
Also, although nature produces an
impressive
hue of
colors, those
suitable for
use as a
food dye are
limited. But
there is no
limit to the variety of colors that can be
artificially produced in a lab.
Artificial food colorings were originally
manufactured from coal tar, which
comes from coal. Early critics of
artificial food colorings were quick to
point this out. Today, most synthetic
food dyes are derived from petroleum, or
crude oil.

Artificial sweeteners are synthetic

sugar substitutes. But they may be
derived from naturally occurring
substances, such as herbs or sugar
itself. Artificial sweeteners are also
known as intense sweeteners because
they are many times sweeter than
sugar.
Some Artificial Sweetners:
Sucralose is an artificial sweetener
and sugar substitute. The majority of
ingested sucralose is not broken down
by the body, so it is non-caloric.

(SUCRALOSE)

Sodium saccharin (benzoic sulfimide)

is an artificial sweetener with effectively
no food energy. It is about 300–400
times as sweet as sucrose but has a
bitter or metallic aftertaste, especially
at high concentrations. Saccharin is
used to sweeten products such as
drinks, candies, cookies, and medicines.

SACCHARIN
Uses for artificial sweeteners:
Artificial sweeteners are widely used in
processed foods,
including:
Soft drinks,
powdered drink
mixes and other
beverages, Baked goods, Candy, Puddings,
Canned foods, Jams and jellies, Dairy
products.

A preservative is a substance or a
chemical that is added to products such
as food, beverages, pharmaceutical
drugs, paints, biological samples,
cosmetics, wood, and many other
products to
prevent decomposition by microbial gro
wth or by undesirable chemical changes.
There are three classes of chemical
preservatives commonly used in foods:
 Benzoates (such as sodium benzoate)
 Nitrites (such as sodium nitrite)
 Sulphites (such as sulphur dioxide)
Uses & Benefits :
Preservatives in Food :
Preservatives are added to food to fight
spoilage caused by bacteria, molds,
fungus, and yeast. Preservatives can
keep food fresher for longer periods of
time, extending its shelf life.
Preservatives in Medicine and
Pharmaceuticals :
Preservatives are used commonly in
medicines such as acetaminophen,
insulin and
cough syrup to
help prevent
microbial
contamination.
Simply, preserva
tives help
prevent the
growth of
microorganisms, particularly bacteria
and fungi, which may cause disease or
infection.

1. Trans fats (hydrogenated oils) :

Used in food
to enhance the
taste and
extend the
shelf life, trans
fats are
dangerous
because they increase the body’s LDL (“bad”)
cholesterol while decreasing HDL (“good”)
cholesterol; they also heighten the risk of
heart disease, diabetes, and a host of other
health problems.
2. High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) :
HFCS is a
highly
refined
sweetener
that’s
found in
most
processed foods. This additive is so
calorie-dense it’s one of the major
contributors to the obesity epidemic.
Like trans fats, it raises bad cholesterol
levels and can lead to diabetes.
3. Sodium nitrites and nitrates:
These food additives are used to
preserve, flavor, and add color to
processed meats like bacon, ham, and
hot dogs.
CONCLUSION:
We learnt about the different chemicals
present in food we consume. This project
focuses on educating students to know
about the chemicals present in the food.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
https://www.chemicalsafetyfacts.org
https://science.howstuffworks.com/