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Food Additives
Food additives are substances added to food to preserve flavor or enhance its taste and appearance. Some
additives have been used for centuries; for example, preserving food by pickling (with vinegar, salting, as with bacon,
preserving sweets or using sulfur dioxides as in some wines. With the advent of processed foods in the second half of
the 20th century, many more additives have been introduced, of both natural and artificial origin.
Categories of Food Additives:
1. Food acids
Food acids are added to make flavors "sharper", and also act as preservatives and antioxidants. Common
food acids include vinegar, citric acid, tartaric acid, malic acid, fumaric acid, and lactic acid.
2. Acidity regulators
Acidity regulators are used to change or otherwise control the acidity and alkalinity of foods. Acidity
regulators, or pH control agents, are food additives added to change or maintain pH (acidity or basicity). They
can be organic or mineral acids, bases, neutralizing agents, or buffering agents.
Example: Sodium carbonate used as a pH regulator to maintain stable alkaline conditions necessary for
the action of the majority of developing agents.
3. Anticaking agents
Anticaking agents keep powders such as milk powder from caking or sticking. Anticaking agents function
either by adsorbing excess moisture, or by coating particles and making them water repellent. Some anticaking
agents are soluble in water; others are soluble in alcohols or other organic solvents. Calcium silicate (CaSiO3), a
common anti-caking agent which is added to table salt etc. adsorbs both water and oil.
Examples of Anti Caking Agents Food:
 Milk and cream powders
 Baking powder
 Grated cheese
 Drinking chocolate
 Icing sugar
 Table salt
4. Antifoaming agents
Antifoaming agents reduce or prevent foaming in foods. A defoamer or an antifoaming agent is a chemical additive that reduces and hinders the formation of foam in
industrial process liquids. The terms anti-foam agent and defoamer are often used
interchangeably.
5. Antioxidants
Antioxidants such as vitamin C act as preservatives by inhibiting the effects of
oxygen on food, and can be beneficial to health. Antioxidants are added to food to slow
the rate of oxidation and, if used properly, they can extend the shelf life of the food in
which they have been used.
Oxidation of food is a destructive process, causing loss of nutritional value and
changes in chemical composition. Oxidation of fats and oils leads to rancidity and, in
fruits such as apples, it can result in the formation of compounds which discolour the
fruit.
Fats and oils, or foods containing them, are the most likely to have problems
with oxidation. Fats react with oxygen and even if a food has a very low fat content it
may still need the addition of an antioxidant. They are commonly used in:
 vegetable oil
 meat, fish, poultry
 margarine
 dairy products
 baked products
6. Bulking agents
Bulking agents such as starch are additives that increase the bulk of a food without
affecting its nutritional value. Bulking agents are non caloric additives used to impart
volume and mass to a food.
One of the most common forms of bulking agents:
 Guar gum
 Psyllium hust
Bulking agents have come into study as weight loss aids primarily for their ability to
deliver fullness and decreased appetite. Studies have shown the soluble fiber
glucomannan to induce weight loss.
7. Colorings
Colorings are added to food to replace colors lost during preparation, or to make
food look more attractive. Food coloring is any substance, liquid or powder, that is
added to food or drink to change its color. Food coloring is used both in commercial
food production and in domestic cooking. Due to its safety and general availability, food
coloring is also used in a variety of non-food applications.
Some of the primary reasons in using food colorings:
 Offsetting color loss due to light, air, extremes of temperature, moisture, and
storage conditions.
 Masking natural variations in color.
 Enhancing naturally occurring colors.
 Providing identity to foods.
 Protecting flavors and vitamins from damage by light.
 Decorative or artistic purposes such as cake icing.
 Birthdays and other celebrations.
8. Colour retention agents
In contrast to colorings, color retention agents are used to preserve a food's
existing color. Colour retention agents are food additives that are added to food to
prevent the color from changing. Many of them work by absorbing or binding to oxygen
before it can damage food (antioxidants). For example, ascorbic acid (vitamin C) is often
added to brightly colored fruits, such as peaches during canning.
9. Emulsifiers
Emulsifiers allow water and oils to remain mixed together in an emulsion, as in
mayonnaise, ice cream, and homogenized oil-in-water emulsions are common in food.
Notable examples include:
 Vinaigrette – vegetable oil in vinegar; if prepared with only oil and vinegar
(without an emulsifier), yields an unstable emulsion.
 Mayonnaise – vegetable oil in lemon juice or vinegar,with egg yolk lecithin as
emulsifier.
 Crema in espresso – coffee oil in water (brewed coffee), unstable.
10. Flavors
Flavors are additives that give food a particular taste or smell, and may be
derived from natural ingredients or created artificially.
There are three principal types of flavorings used in foods, natural flavoring
substances, nature-identical flavoring substances ,artificial flavoring substances
 Natural flavoring substances
Flavoring substances obtained from plant or animal raw materials, by physical,
microbiological or enzymatic processes. They can be either used in their natural
state or processed for human consumption, but cannot contain any nature-identical
or artificial flavoring substances.
 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 substances.
 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 distillation and additional chemical manipulation naturally sourced
chemicals or from crude oil or coal tar.although they are chemically different, in
sensory characteristics are the same as natural ones.
Acids that contribute to the flavor of the foods
 Acetic acid - gives vinegar its sour taste and distinctive smell.
 Ascorbic acid - found in oranges and green peppers and gives a crisp, slightly
sour taste. Better known as vitamin C.
 Citric acid - found in citrus fruits and gives them their sour taste.
 Fumaric acid - not found in fruits, used as a substitute for citric and tartaric acid.
 Lactic acid - found in various milk or fermented products and give them a rich
tartness.
 Malic acid - found in apples and gives them their sour/tart taste.
 Phosphoric acid - Used in all Cola drinks to give an acid taste.
 Tartaric acid - found in grapes and wines and gives them a tart taste.
11. Flavor enhancers
Flavor enhancers enhance a food's existing flavors. They may be extracted from
natural sources (through distillation, solvent extraction, maceration, among other
methods) or created artificially. Flavour enhancers are commonly added to
commercially produced food products (e.g. frozen dinners, instant soups, snackfoods) to
make them taste more "savoury".
The commonly used flavour enhancers are: monosodium
monopotassium glutamate, calcium diglutamate, monoammonium
magnesium diglutamate.
12. Flour treatment agents
glutamate,
glutamate,
Flour treatment agents are added to flour to improve its color or its use in
baking. Flour bleaching agents are added to flour in order to make it appear whiter
(freshly milled flour is yellowish) and to oxidize the surfaces of the flour grains and help
with developing of gluten
13. Glazing agents
Glazing agents provide a shiny appearance or protective coating to foods.
Glazing agents, or polishing agents, are food additives providing shiny appearance or
protective coating to foods. Mostly they are based on waxes.
Examples of glazing agent:
 Stearic acid - It occurs in many animal and vegetable fats and oils.The cocoa butter
and shea butter whose fatty acids consist of 28–45% stearic acid.
 Beeswax - is a natural wax produced in the bee hive of honey bees of the genus Apis.
It is mainly esters of fatty acids and various long chain alcohols.
 Candelilla wax - One of its major uses was a binder for chewing gums.
 Carnauba wax - used to provide shiny appearance to chocolate and many other
foods.
 Brazil wax and palm wax - is a wax of the leaves of the palm, Copernicia prunifera, a
plant native to and grown only in the northeastern of Brazil.
 Shellac - is a resin secreted by the female lac bug, on trees in the forests of India and
Thailand. It is processed and sold as
dry flakes (pictured at right), which are
dissolved in denature alcohol to make liquid shellac, which is used as a
brushon colorant, food glaze and wood finish.
 Microcrystalline waxes - are a type of wax produced by deoiling petrolatum, as part
of the petroleum refining process. It contains a higher percentage of soparaffinic
(branched) hydrocarbons and naphthenic hydrocarbons.
 Lanolin - also called Adeps Lanae, wool wax or wool grease, is a yellow waxy
substance secreted by the sebaceous glands of wool-bearing animals. Most lanolin
used by humans comes from domestic sheep.
14. Humectants
Humectants prevent foods from drying out. When used as a food additive, the
humectant has the effect of keeping the foodstuff moist. Humectants are sometimes
used as a component of antistatic coatings for plastics. Humectants are also found in
many cosmetic products where moisturization is desired, including treatments such as
moisturizing hair conditioners and also commonly used in body lotions. Humectants are
also used in the manufacture of some cigarettes and other tobacco products.
Examples of humectants include glycerol, propylene glycol and glyceryl
triacetate. Others can be sugar polyols like sorbitol xylitol and maltitol, polymeric
polyols like polydextrose, or natural extracts like quillaia, lactic acid or urea.
15. Preservatives
Preservatives prevent or inhibit spoilage of food due to fungi, bacteria and other
microorganisms. It is also used to prevent decomposition by microbial growth or by
undesirable chemical changes in foods.
Common anti-microbial preservatives include calcium propionate, sodium nitrate,
sulfites (sulfur dioxide, sodium bisulfite, potassium hydrogen sulfite, etc.) and disodium
EDTA. Antioxidants include BHA and BHT. Other preservatives include formaldehyde
(usually
in
solution),
glutaraldehyde
(kills
insects),
ethanol
and
methylchloroisothiazolinone.
Natural Food Preservatives
In the category of natural food preservatives comes the salt, sugar, alcohol, vinegar
etc. These are the traditional preservatives in food that are also used at home while
making pickles, jams and juices etc. Also the freezing, boiling, smoking, salting are
considered to be the natural ways of preserving food. Coffee powder and soup are
dehydrated and freeze-dried for preservation. In this section the citrus food
preservatives like citrus acid and ascorbic acid work on enzymes and disrupt their
metabolism leading to the preservation.
16. Stabilizers
Stabilizers, thickeners and gelling agents, like agar or pectin (used in jam for
example) give foods a firmer texture. While they are not true emulsifiers, they help to
stabilize emulsions.
Purpose of Stabilizers
 They maintain the consistency of the food
 Food stabilizers do not allow the separation of ingredients that are bound together
by emulsifiers.
Common Food Stabilizers
 Alginic acid is a popular food stabilizer that is derived from brown algae is used in
ice-cream and syrups that we use on desserts.
 Agar agar is also used as a food stabilizers in the food products like canned meat and
pudding. Carrageenan is like agar agar that is also obtained from red algae. It is used
in shampoos.
 Then there is gelatin, another food stabilizer.
 Pectin or calcium chloride are used as food stabilizers in dairy products.
 Lecithin and mono- and digycerides.
Applications of Stabilizers for Food
 Ice Cream
 Dairy products
 Margarine
 Mayonnaise
17. Sweeteners
Sweeteners are added to foods for flavoring. Sweeteners other than sugar are added
to keep the food energy (calories) low, or because they have beneficial effects for
diabetes mellitus and tooth decay and diarrhea.
18. Thickeners
Thickeners are substances which, when added to the mixture, increase its viscosity
without substantially modifying its other properties. Food thickeners are frequently
based on polysaccharides (starches or vegetable gums) or proteins (egg yolks, demiglaces, or collagen).
Common example of Thickeners
 agar
 fecula
 arrowroot
 gelatin
 carageenan
 tapioca
 cornstarch
 xanthan gum
Additives you must avoid
 Sodium Nitrate (also called Sodium Nitrite): This is a preservative, coloring, and
flavoring commonly added to bacon, ham, hot dogs, luncheon meats, smoked fish,
and corned beef. Studies have linked eating it to various types of cancer.
 BHA and BHT: Butylated hydroxy anisole and butylated hydro zyttoluene are used
to preserve common household foods. They are found in cereals, chewing gum,
potato chips, and vegetable oils. They are oxidants, which form potentially cancercausing reactive compounds in your body.
 Propyl Gallate Another preservative, often used in conjunction with BHA and BHT. It
is sometimes found in meat products, chicken soup base, and chewing gum.
 Mono sodium Glutamatesodium (MSG) : MSG is an amino acid used as a flavor
enhancer in soups, salad dressings, chips, frozen food, and restaurant food. It can
cause headaches and nausea, and animal studies link it to damaged nerve cells in the
brains of infant mice.
 Trans Fats: Trans fats are proven to cause heart disease. Restaurant food, especially
fast food chains, often serve foods laden with trans fats.
 Aspartame: Aspartame, also known by the brand names Nutrasweet and Equal, is a
sweetener found in so-called diet foods such as low-calorie desserts, gelatins, drink
mixes, and soft drinks. It may cause cancer or neurological problems, such as
dizziness or hallucinations.
 Acesul fame-K: This is a relatively new artificial sweetener found in baked goods,
chewing gum, and gelatin desserts. There is a general concern that testing on this
product has been scant, and some studies show the additive may cause cancer in
rats.
 Food Colorings: Blue 1, 2; Red 3; Green 3; Yellow 6: Five food colorings still on the
market are linked with cancer in animal testing. Blue 1 and 2, found in beverages,
candy, baked goods and pet food, have been linked to cancer in mice. Red 3, used to
dye cherries, fruit cocktail, candy, and baked goods, has been shown to cause
thyroid tumors in rats. Green 3, added to candy and beverages, has been linked to
bladder cancer. The widely used yellow 6, added to beverages, sausage, gelatin,
baked goods, and candy, has been linked to tumors of the adrenal gland and kidney.
 Olestra: Olestra, a synthetic fat found in some potato chip brands, can cause severe
diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and gas. Olestra also inhibits healthy vitamin
absorption from fat-soluble carotenoids that are found in fruits and vegetables.
 Potassium Bromate: Potassium bromate is used as an additive to increase volume in
some white flour, breads, and rolls. It is known to cause cancer in animals, and even
small amounts in bread can create a risk for humans.
 White Sugar: Watch out for foods with added sugars, such as baked goods, cereals,
crackers, sauces and many other processed foods. It is unsafe for your health, and
promotes bad nutrition.
 Sodium Chloride: A dash of sodium chloride, more commonly known as salt, can
bring flavor to your meal. But too much salt can be dangerous for your health,
leading to high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, and kidney failure.
Some safe food additives:
 Maltodextrin. This is a thickening agent and sweetener made from starch. It's used
in canned fruit, salad dressings, and instant puddings.
 Sodium Carboxymethyl-Cellulose. Another thickener that also keeps sugar from
crystallizing. You can find it in ice cream, beer, pie fillings, icings, diet foods, and
candy.
 Thiamin Mononitrate. A form of vitamin B-1 used to fortify cereals and flour.
 Sucralose. Better known as Splenda. Used in some baked goods, frozen desserts, and
diet soft drinks.
 Colors that contains vitamin B2 carotene and Vitamin A.
What can you do to protect yourself from the bad effects of food additives?
o The safest thing to do is to avoid all foods that contain any additives whatsoever and
this can most easily be accomplished by eating only those foods that have been
organically produced and are certified as such by a reputable organic certification
body.
o This need not be any more expensive than buying any other kinds of food though,
regrettably, many organic growers and suppliers have taken advantage of the
situation and charge high premiums for the privilege of eating safe food. You may
have to search around and ‘negotiate' but it is the very best and safest route if you
are able to take it.
o If the organic option is not available to you then you must learn as much as you can
about the additives which are used, the ones that are the most threatening and
dangerous and how to identify them in the foods you buy. Wash all fruit and
vegetables as thoroughly as you can and peel apples, pears, potatoes etc., before
eating or cooking. This does remove much of the goodness but at least it gets rid of
the residues on the skins.