Food Additives Chapter 24

What is a Food Additive What is BHT, sorbic acid, and guar gum mean????? They are examples of FOOD ADDITIVES!! Food Additive = any substance a food producer intentionally adds to a food for a specific purpose. Producers use around 3,000 additives to preserve and improve foods

Natural vs. Synthetic What are some examples of natural additives??? – That means guess guys!!!! Salt and sugar Artificial or synthetic are made in a laboratory; they aren’t found naturally in food The chemical “ingredients” are the same as any that occur in nature, but the chemicals are joined or modified in the food science lab to produce a substance.

Common Food Additives (Few ex.) Acesulfame – K (Artificial sweetener, used in chewing gum) Aspartame – Artificial sweetener Azodicarbonamide – Bleaching agent in flour Guar Gum – Stabilizer for ice cream and soups MSG – Flavor enhancer in soups, Chinese foods Saccarin – Artificial sweetener Sodium citrate – pH controller; meat curer Sorbitol – Nutritive sweetener Tartaric Acid – pH controller used in soft drinks

The Food and Drug Administration Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) & the World Health Organization (WHO) provide oversight. Giving stricter guidelines about food additives. Food and Drug Administration Responsible that the food we eat is safe!!! Getting a food additive accepted is not simple task, due to strict guidelines A manufacture must submit evidence from extensive test, showing the substance does not cause short or long term harm If satisfied they then determine how much is safe for the public to eat

The FDA Continued Another FDA standard is called the Delaney cause This states that any food additive that is shown to cause cancer in humans or animals may not be added to food GRAS List = substances, such as spices, natural seasoning, and flavorings, that are considered safe for human consumption and not regulated as additives. The GRAS list currently numbers about 670 items

Ingredient Labeling Manufactures are required to list all food ingredients on the label Example –suppose you want to produce products made with only natural ingredients. The word “flavored” on a label tells you that the food uses only natural flavorings These might be a variety of flavors, but all occur naturally A food labeled “artificially flavored” contains some synthetic flavorings

How Additives Are Used The purpose of additives fall into four categories Improve storage properties Increase healthfulness Make food more appealing Improve processing and preparation

Improving Storage Properties Two hundred years ago, diets were largely limited to locally produced foods Example 100 years ago a California orange sent to Boston would be inedible LONG before it arrived Today that orange can be treated with preservatives These are usually chemicals used to prevent mold and bacteria from spoiling food Commonly used preservatives include sodium nitrate, sorbic acid, sodium bisulfite, and sodium nitrate Preservatives are normally chosen because they are economical and don’t affect a food’s flavor, color or texture Some perseveres are chosen to enhance color (meat is sometimes sprayed with sodium nitrate – why?????)

Increasing Healthfulness Increasing additives is also included in boosting a food’s nutritional profile. Fortification = is adding nutrients that are not normally found in a food (ex. Milk is fortified with vit. D) Restoration = nutrients that are lost in processing are returned to the food with the process called restoration (reestablishes the product’s original nutritive value ex. Vit. C is put back into canned oranges) Enrichment = adding nutrients lost in processing (contain more nutrients than existed in the food before processing (ex. Vitamins are increased) Nitrification = process that adds nutrients to a food with a low nutrient/kcalorie ratio so the food can replace a nutritionally balanced meal (nutrition bars and shakes are examples)

Making Food More Appealing thru Color Almost all soft drinks, cheeses, ice cream, jams, and jellies owe at least part of their coloring to additives. Some colors are made from food (caramelizing sugars) However, nearly ½ the common colorings are created in the laboratories Each of the synthetic colorings are identified with a number (example yellow #1)

Making Food More Appealing thru Flavor About 2000 natural and synthetic flavors are available. In the US five times as many products are grape-flavored as are flavored by the concord grape. Sometimes using a natural flavor would make a food too costly to produce. Flavor enhancers are substance that gives no flavor but bring out the flavor in the food.

Making Food More Appealing thru Sweeteners Of all of the flavor enhancers, sweeteners are the most common Sweeteners are basically either nutritive or nonnutritive Nutritive sweeteners metabolize to produce calories Examples are sugar (sucrose), brown sugar, maple syrup, molasses, and honey. Sorbitol (taste ½ as sweet as sucrose, diabetics use this sugar) Sorbitol absorbs more slowly from the intestinal tract than sucrose does, so the blood sugar level may not rise as high

Making Food More Appealing thru Sweeteners Nonnative sugars are also called artificial sweeteners. (They have no calories but still taste sweet. Following sweeteners are currently approved by FDA: Sucralose – made from sugar but is 600 times sweeter. (produces no calories) Saccharin – made from petroleum products, saccharin is 300 times as sweet as sucrose. If used in great amount, it leaves a bitter taste. Aspartame – 200 times sweeter than sugar, supplies no calories and leaves no aftertaste. Cannot be used in baked goods or cooked products, it losses it’s sweeteners , which is why many diet sodas have a use-by date Acesulfame – 200 times sweeter than sugar. Use in candies, baked goods, frozen desserts, and beverages

Improving Processing and Preparation Stabilizer, substance that keeps a compound, mixture, or solution from changing its form or chemical nature. Example without stabilizer, the fat in peanut butter separates from the protein, creating an oil pool over a stiff paste. Ice cream is creamy, in part because thickeners prevent crystals from forming as it freezes and stabilizes. Many stabilizers are natural and starch-based. Some are made from pectin, casein, sodium caseinate, and gelatin

Concerns About Food Additives Some people believe that some additives cause “more trouble than they’re worth.” One concern is not enough is known about the long-term effects Example is nitrites which react with amines (preservative in meat) is suspected of causing cancer Nitrites prevent botulism, which the FDA believe will out way the risks of using them, however the FDA required them to be used in lower quantities. DO YOU THINK THERE ARE ANY RISKS IN EATTING SO MANY PROCESSED FOODS?

Poor Eating Habits/Unneeded Additives If you ate a food full of vitamins and minerals, (example Total Cereal) do you think that you can skip more healthier foods??? WRONG – you would be missing fiber, protein an other essential and nonessential nutrients. You also can be getting to much of particular nutrients. Have you noticed that apples in the supermarket appear much more shiner than foods freshly picked??? Apples, oranges, eggplant, and lemons are treated with a light coat of oil-based wax These waxes are approved as a preservatives, they help maintain freshness by sealing in moisture

The Value of Food Additives Preservatives extend the shelf life of many foods Ex. mold inhibitor calcium propionate and BHT are used in bread to prevent mold (keeping the fat fresh) Supporters of food additives say additives prevent disease caused by malnutrition Goiter = an enlargement of the thyroid glad caused by a lack of iodine This was then added to table salt in 1924 Vit. D was added to milk in the 1930’s to help with rickets (bone-deforming disease)

Questions In general, what is a food additive? How are natural and synthetic additives different? How does an additive gain acceptance from the FDA? What is the Delaney Clause? Why is the GRAS list useful? What are four basic uses for additives? What is sodium nitrite and why is it used?

Question Continued Compare four techniques producers use to increase the nutritional value of food. Describe three artificial sweeteners. Would marshmallows crème be possible without stabilizers? Why or why not? Explain the arguments for and against using nutritional additives in food. According to supporters of food additives, what would result from eliminating preservatives? How would you advise someone who is worried about chemicals in food?