Abstract

Food additives are substances added to food to maintain or improve its safety, freshness, taste, texture, or appearance. Food additives need to be checked for potential harmful effects on human health before they can be used. The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) is the international body responsible for evaluating the safety of food additives.

Key Words: Additive, colorings agent, Flavoring agent, Harmful

1. What are food additives?

Substances that are added to food to maintain or improve the safety, freshness, taste, texture, or appearance of food are known as food additives i.e Substance we added to food to make them test better, last longer and look nicer. Some food additives have been in use for centuries for preservation such as salt (in meats such as bacon or dried fish), sugar (in marmalade), or sulfur dioxide (in wine).

Many different food additives have been developed over time to meet the needs of food production, as making food on a large scale is very different from making them on a small scale at home. Additives are needed to ensure processed food remains safe and in good condition throughout its journey from factories or industrial kitchens, during transportation to warehouses and shops, and finally to consumers.

The use of food additives is only justified when their use has a technological need, does not mislead consumers, and serves a well-defined technological function, such as to preserve the nutritional quality of the food or enhance the stability of the food.

Food additives can be derived from plants, animals, or minerals or they can be synthetic. They are added intentionally to food to perform certain technological purposes which consumers often take for granted. There are several thousand food additives used, all of which are designed to do a specific job in making food safer or more appealing. WHO, together with FAO, groups food additives into 3 broad categories based on their function.

1.1 Types of Food Additive

It may be three types.

1. Natural:- These are substances that we find naturally in a foodstuff. We extract them from one food and use them in another. For example, we use beetroot juice to color some sweets.

2. Natural identical: These are natural substances that we synthesize, i.e. we produce artificially. Benzoic acid, for example, exists naturally in nature.

3. Artificial: Synthesized copy of substance that does not exist in nature such as vanillin and ethyl maltol. These food additives do not exist naturally in foods. We synthesize them. example, azodicarbonamide. Azodicarbonamide is flour bleaching agent and a dough conditioner, i.e., it is a flour improver.

1.2 Flavouring agents

Flavouring agents – which are added to food to improve aroma or taste – make up the greatest number of additives used in foods. There are hundreds of varieties of flavourings used in a wide variety of foods, from confectionery and soft drinks to cereal, cake, and yoghurt. Natural flavouring agents include nut, fruit and spice blends, as well as those derived from vegetables and wine. In addition, there are flavourings that imitate natural flavours.

1.3 Enzyme preparations

Enzyme preparations are a type of additive that may or may not end up in the final food product. Enzymes are naturally-occurring proteins that boost biochemical reactions by breaking down larger molecules into their smaller building blocks. They can be obtained by extraction from plants or animal products or from micro-organisms such as bacteria and are used as alternatives to chemical-based technology. They are mainly used in baking (to improve the dough), for manufacturing fruit juices (to increase yields), in wine making and brewing (to improve fermentation), as well as in cheese manufacturing (to improve curd formation).

1.4 Other additives

Other food additives are used for a variety of reasons, such as preservation, colouring, and sweetening. They are added when food is prepared, packaged, transported, or stored, and they eventually become a component of the food.

Preservatives can slow decomposition caused by mould, air, bacteria, or yeast. In addition to maintaining the quality of the food, preservatives help control contamination that can cause foodborne illness, including life-threatening botulism. Colouring is added to food to replace colours lost during preparation, or to make food look more attractive. Non-sugar sweeteners are often used as an alternative to sugar because they contribute fewer or no calories when added to food.

1.5 Categories of Food Additive

Food additives can be divided into several groups, although there is some overlap because some additives exert more than one effect. For example, salt is both a preservative as well as a flavor [1-5]

i. Acidulants

Acidulants confer sour or acid taste. Common acidulants include vinegar, citric acid, tartaric acid, malic acid, fumaric acid, and lactic acid.

ii. Acidity regulators

Acidity regulators are used for controlling the pH of foods for stability or to affect activity of enzymes.

iii. Anticaking agents

Anticaking agents keep powders such as milk powder from caking or sticking.

iv. Antifoaming and foaming agents

Antifoaming agents reduce or prevent foaming in foods. Foaming agents do the reverse.

v. Antioxidants

Antioxidants such as vitamin C are preservatives by inhibiting the degradation of food by oxygen.

vi. Bulking agents

Bulking agents such as starch are additives that increase the bulk of a food without affecting its taste.

1.6. Food coloring

Colorings are added to food to replace colors lost during preparation or to make food look more attractive.

i. Fortifying agents

Vitamins, minerals, and dietary supplements to increase the nutritional value

ii. Color retention agents

In contrast to colorings, color retention agents are used to preserve a food's existing color.

iii. Emulsifiers

Emulsifiers allow water and oils to remain mixed together in an emulsion, as in mayonnaise, ice cream, and homogenized milk.

1.7. Flavorings

Flavorings are additives that give food a particular taste or smell, and may be derived from natural ingredients or created artificially.

i. Flavor enhancers

Flavor enhancers enhance a food's existing flavors. A popular example is monosodium glutamate. Some flavor enhancers have their own flavors that are independent of the food.

ii. Flour treatment agents

Flour treatment agents are added to flour to improve its color or its use in baking.

iii. Glazing agents

Glazing agents provide a shiny appearance or protective coating to foods.

iv. Humectants

Humectants prevent foods from drying out.

v. Tracer gas

Tracer gas allows for package integrity testing to prevent foods from being exposed to atmosphere, thus guaranteeing shelf life.

vi. Preservatives

Preservatives prevent or inhibit spoilage of food due to fungi, bacteria and other microorganisms.

vii. 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.

viii. 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 regarding diabetes mellitus, tooth decay, or diarrhea.

ix. Thickeners

Thickening agents are substances which, when added to the mixture, increase its viscosity without substantially modifying its other properties.

x. Packaging

Bisphenols, phthalates, and perfluoroalkyl chemicals (PFCs) are indirect additives used in manufacturing or packaging. In July 2018 the American Academy of Pediatrics called for more careful study of those three substances, along with nitrates and food coloring, as they might harm children during development [6-10].

1.8. Most common food additives found in foods:

(a) Sodim benzoate

(b) Ascorbic acid

(c) Sodium Nitrite.

(d) Carrageenan

(e) Xanthan Gum

(f) High-Fructose Corn Syrup

(g) Yeast Extract.

(h) Monosodim Glutamate (MSG).

(a) Sodium Benzoate

Just like Sodium Nitrate, Sodium Benzoate is also used in packaging meat-related food items. It helps in the prevention of your meat products from getting attacked by fungi that could quickly spoil your food and make you feel sick once you eat it.

Sodium gets inside each of the cells that are present in your diet and helps in balancing its pH value. Thus, increasing the acidity of your food, making the intracellular pH lower, of your diet, Sodium Benzoate creates an environment that doesn’t allow fungi to grow and spread inside of it. Many soft drinks come with a high amount of Sodium Benzoate as it enhances the flavors of your soft drink.

(b)Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)

Starting, we have MSG, which is the most common artificial additive. In addition to this, it can be found in several processed foods, such as your frozen dinners, that include ready to eat noodles, soups, processed meat, etc. Most of your canned food, which you see on the shelves, is using MSG to preserve the food present inside. According to the Food and Drug Administration, “MSG is generally safe to eat.” On the other hand, many companies use Glutamate property, which is an amino acid to enhance the flavors of your canned food. MSG is present in the natural form within tomatoes and cheese too.

(c) Artificial Food Additives Coloring

Are you looking at something in the restaurant that looks too unreal to be true, and the colors just popping out from the dish? Then there is a sure chance you are looking at a dish that is made by using artificial food additives or coloring. There are lots of ways to make your food look beautiful, and one of the most common appYou might think food coloring is restrained to your kids’ candies and morning cereals. It’s not restricted to these food items. You need to read the ingredients of your packaged food items, and you will find food coloring lurking in between other ingredients too. In the past 50 years, the consumption of dyed food has increased by 500%. Most of the junk food you found on the streets of your city use artificial coloring. Moreover, food coloring in shades of turmeric, coffee, chilly red powder, etc.

(d)Sodium Nitrate 

This chemical helps in preserving your meat products from getting harmful bacteria. In addition to this, it adds a salty flavor to your meat, while giving your meat a pinkish color. Furthermore, Sodium Nitrate blocks the growth of botulism and prevents your meat from spoilage. You can also find a higher amount of sodium nitrate in green veggies such as Spinach, which can easily contain 500 to 1900 parts per million of sodium nitrate. Only 5% of your daily intake of sodium comes from meat, and the rest of it comes from the vegetables. When the sodium nitrate, which is present in the veggies, comes in contact with your saliva, it turns into sodium nitrite, which is not known to be harmful for human consumption.

(e) Artificial Sweeteners

When talking about losing weight and getting a toned body, most people will tell you it’s more to do with your daily diet than the exercise you do in the gym. Many cola and beverage companies use artificial sweeteners to enhance the flavor of their soft drinks to make them more pleasing to young kids and teenagers. Some of the most common types of sweeteners are aspartame, sucralose, and potassium. While it is true that in moderation, artificial sweeteners can help you reduce your weight, and people who are diagnosed with diabetes may use it on occasion to maintain their blood sugar levels; the fact remains that rampant use of artificial sweeteners is not good for the health in the long run.

(f) High-fructose corn syrup

Another sweetener that is widely used in sodas is corn syrup. It is used in many of your fruit drinks that say they are made from 100 natural fruits. Well, they are not lying to you as corn sugar does occur naturally in corn. HFCS has been linked to a variety of health issues over the years and is considered really bad. It is counted as a major reason for growing obesity in the world. It is said to be one of the most versatile food additives that are present in the market as it is used across a variety of food products.

(g) Trans Fat

Trans fat is another additive that is present in both synthetic and natural forms. Trans fat is a kind of unsaturated fat that is present in the meat and dairy products that are produced by ruminant animals. Some of these animals include cattle, sheep, and goats. Trans fat occurs naturally in their stomach when they eat and digest grass. The trans fat available in dairy products is a mere 2-6% of the total fat. On the other hand, speaking of trans fat quantity in cuts of beef and lamb you will find it near around 3-9%. Moreover, you can find vegetable oils that have gone through chemical processing to remain liquid at room temperature. Lastly, trans fat also increases the shelf life of vegetable oils. Avoid foods with trans fat as it is not good for health.

1.9. Function of Food additives

People in the food industry usually group additives according to their function. The main functions of additive are as follows:

i. Stabilizers, gelling agents, thickeners, and emulsifiers

These additives help in the processing of food. They also help different parts of a foodstuff mix together. Emulsifiers, for example, help oil and water mix together.

ii. Antioxidants

Antioxidants reduce the chance of fats and oils in foods from combining with oxygen. This delays the rate at which foods deteriorate, i.e., go rotten.

iii. Flavor enhancers

Flavor enhancers are common in savory foods, i.e., salty foods. Companies use them to enhance their existing flavor. Monosodium glutamate, for example, is a flavor enhancer.

iv.Sweeteners

Food sellers use bulk or intense sweeteners. Intense sweeteners are super sweet and include substances like aspartame and saccharin. We add bulk sweeteners in similar amounts to natural sugar.

v.Colors

Food sellers use color to make their products more appealing and appetizing. Most color additives restore the product’s original color.

2. Evaluating the health risk of food additives

WHO, in cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), is responsible for assessing the risks to human health from food additives. Risk assessment of food additives are conducted by an independent, international expert scientific group, the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA). Only food additives that have undergone a JECFA safety assessment, and are found not to present an appreciable health risk to consumers, can be used. This applies whether food additives come from a natural source or they are synthetic. National authorities either based on the JECFA assessment or a national assessment can then authorize the use of food additives at specified levels for specific foods. JECFA evaluations are based on scientific reviews of all available biochemical, toxicological, and other relevant data on a given additive mandatory tests in animals, research studies and observations in humans are considered. The toxicological tests required by JECFA include acute, short-term, and long-term studies that determine how the food additive is absorbed, distributed, and excreted, and possible harmful effects of the additive or its by-products at certain exposure levels. The starting point for determining whether a food additive can be used without having harmful effects is to establish the acceptable daily intake (ADI). The ADI is an estimate of the amount of an additive in food or drinking water that can be safely consumed daily over a lifetime without adverse health effects.

2.1 Limitation/ Harmful effect of Additive

It is often the additives that are used to give a food a marketable quality, such as colour, that most commonly cause allergic reactions. Some of these hypersensitive reactions include: Digestive disorders, diarrhoea and colicky pains. Nervous disorders, hyperactivity, insomnia and irritability.

References

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2. Food Ingredients and Packaging Terms  "FDA. January 4, 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2018.

3. Codex Alimentarius. Class Names and the International Numbering System for Food Additives" (PDF).

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5. Press release: Some Common Food Additives May Pose Health Risks to Children". American Academy of Pediatrics. July 23, 2018.

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