Chemicals in Food Food additives

Dr. Harminder Singh

harminder.singh@lpu.co.in

Learning objectives
To identify the reason(s) why food additives are used. To understand the different sources of food additives. To understand the different roles and functions of food additives in food.

Dr. Harminder Singh

Why using food additives (PAT)

Preserving
Attractive Tastier
Dr. Harminder Singh

What are food additives?

Food additives are substances added to products to perform specific technological functions. These functions include: adding colour, flavour and sweetness to food for interest and variety. preserving, i.e. increasing shelf-life or inhibiting the growth of pathogens,
Dr. Harminder Singh

Main classes of food additives (Big 7)

1. Colourings 2. Preservatives

3. Flavourings

4. Emulsifiers and stabilizers(Stabilize oil-water mixtures like ice-cream) 5. Acids, bases and buffers(Control the pH value of food)

6. Sweeteners(To sweeten food without using sugar)

7. Nutrients
Dr. Harminder Singh

Introduction
Food additives can be divided into two major groups
Intentional additives
Chemical substances that are added to food for specific purpose Are regulated by strict governmental controls

Incidental additives
We have little control over incidental or unintentional additives

Dr. Harminder Singh

Intentional Additives
Chemicals that are intentionally introduced to foods to aid in processing to act as preservatives or to improve the quality of the food are called intentional additives Their use is strictly regulated by national and international laws

Dr. Harminder Singh

Intentional Additives
The purpose of food additives
To improve or maintain nutritional value To enhance quality To reduce wastage To enhance consumer acceptability To improve keeping quality To make the food more readily available To facilitate preparation of the food
Dr. Harminder Singh

Intentional Additives
In the following situations additives should not be used: To disguise faulty or inferior processes To conceal damage, spoilage, or other inferiority To deceive the consumer If use entail substantial reduction in important nutrients If the desired effect can be obtained by economical, good manufacturing practices In amount greater than the minimum necessary to achieve the desired effects

Dr. Harminder Singh

Types of additives
Additives may be: Natural found naturally, such as extracts from beetroot juice (E162), used as a colouring agent; Manmade versions synthetic identical copies of substances found naturally, such as benzoic acid (E210), used as a preservative;

Artificial produced synthetically and not found naturally, such as nisin (E234), used as a preservative in some dairy products and in semolina and tapioca puddings.
Dr. Harminder Singh

Why not keep to natural additives?

Some artificial colours have almost disappeared from foods as companies realised that many consumers prefer food products to contain natural colours. At present there is not the variety of natural additives required to perform all the functions of additives necessary. Manmade additives may prove more efficient at preserving, and some natural colours fade in some products.

Dr. Harminder Singh

 Toxicity is the capacity of a substance to produce injury Hazard is the probability that injury will result form the intended use of the substance It is now well recognized that many components of our foods, whether natural or added, are toxic at certain levels, but harmless or even nutritionally essential at lower levels The ratio between effective dose and toxic dose of many compounds, including such common nutrients as amino acids and salts, is the order of 1 to 100

Dr. Harminder Singh

Colours
Colours aim to: restore colour lost during processing or storage, e.g. marrowfat peas;

ensure that each batch produced is identical in appearance or does not appear off; reinforces colour already in foods, e.g. enhance the yellowness of a custard; give colour to foods which otherwise would be colourless (e.g. soft drinks) and so make them more attractive.
Dr. Harminder Singh

Colours
Certain combinations of the following articifical food colours: sunset yellow (E110), quinoline yellow (E104), carmoisine (E122), allura red (E129), tartrazine (E102) and ponceau 4R (E124) have been linked to a negative effect on childrens behaviour.

These colours are used in soft drinks, sweets and ice cream.
The Food Standards Agency suggest if signs of hyperactivity or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder are seen in a child, these additives should be avoided.

Dr. Harminder Singh

Flavour enhancers
Flavour enhancers bring out the flavour in foods without imparting a flavour of their own, e.g. Monosodium glutamate (E612) is added to processed foods. For example some soups, sauces, salad dressing and sausages. (Prolonged eating cause numbness in a portion of brain) Flavourings, on the other hand, are added to a wide range of foods, usually in small amounts to give a particular taste. These do not have E numbers because they are controlled by different food laws. Ingredients lists will say if flavourings have been used, but individual flavourings might not be named.

Dr. Harminder Singh

Sweeteners
Sweeteners include: intense sweeteners, e.g. saccharin, have a sweetness many times that of sugar and therefore are used in small amounts, e.g. in diet foods, soft drinks, sweetening tablets; (non caloric, control obesity but causes bladder tumours)
bulk sweeteners, e.g. sorbitol, have a similar sweetness to sugar and are used at similar levels. If concentrated cordial drinks that contain sweeteners are given to children between the ages of 6 months to 4 years, it is important to dilute them more than for adults. Infants under 6 months should not be given cordial drinks.
Dr. Harminder Singh