Food additives

Food additives

1. Why additives are used

   • To preserve food from spoilage
   • To make the food last longer
   • To improve or enhance the flavour, colour and texture of food
   • To produce a uniform food during a large scale manufacture

2. E numbers

   • Be safe to use
     • Bad E numers
       • E102- taratazine
       • E124 Pornceau 4R
       • E110 sunset yellow
       • E122 camoisne
       • E104 quinoline yellow
       • E129 allure red
       • E211 sodium benzoate
   • Fit in with European union regulations
   • Have a letter E before the number
   • Explain to the coustomer what the additive is used for
   • Be of nutritional value to the customer

3. Legislatons

   • UK
     • Addatives must be areassessed for safety before they can be usedin food.
     • We also ensure that the science on additives is strictly reviewed, the law strictly enforced and action is taken where problems are found
     • We investigate any infomation reasonable doubt on the safety of addatives
   • EU
     • Legislation requries most additives used in foods to be lablled clearly in the list of ingredients, with their function, followed by either their name of E number
     • An E number means that it passed safety tests and has been approved for use here and in the rest of EU

4. Smart materials

   • Pre-gelatainised startch
     • Thickens sauces without the appliance of heat
   • Modified startch
     • Works as an emulsifier in salad dressing to mix togetehr oil and vinigar/water

5. Acid addatives

   • Acids are used to develop an acid flavour in sweets, or setting jam, and in baking powder
   • Acidity regulators are used to control how acid or alkaline a food is

6. Trpes of additives and their uses

   • Anti-caking agents
     • It is placed in powdered or granulated materials e.g. salt. it helps to prevent the lumps from appearing. Found in sugar products
   • Preserving
     • It helps increase shelf life and preventsthe food from decaying. Found in tinned products
   • Stabilisers
     • They are found in products such as ice cream, they are used to ensure that the food products remain in a good and stable condition for a certain peorid of time after being made
   • Colouring
     • They are used in processed foods because they lose their natural colour. Found in most products
   • Emulsifiers
     • They are found in products such as dressings, it prevents oil and water from separating out by surrounding the oil droplets with its molecule
   • Abti-oxidants
     • They are used to preserve food for a longer period of time. They act as oxygen scavengers as the presence of oxygen in the food helps the bacteria to grow.
   • Flavorings
     • They are used in foods because when made the product can lose some of its flavours. Can be natural flavours or sythetic flavours
   • Thickeners
     • This helps change the viscosity of a liquid without substantially modifying its other properties. It is found in yoghurt
   • Gelling agents
     • Found in jelly and jam, they help to thicken a liquid, it dissolves in hot water and once cools it turns into a firm solid

7. Nutrients

   • During the processing of food nutrients can be lost and need replacing by the manufacturer. This is called restoration
   • The food standards committee also recommends that TVP foods into replace meat should be fortified with nutritents to make them similar to meat in food value
   • Vitamin A and D is added to margarine