Role Of Gums And Hydrocolloids In Bakery

Additives are extensively used substances in bakery industries.

- Pallavi Jaiswal

Substances that are added to maintain or improve the safety, freshness, taste, texture, or appearance of food and food products are known as food additives. Additives are added to ensure processed food remains safe and in good condition throughout its journey from production to consumers.

Food additives can be derived from plants, animals, or minerals, or they can be synthetic. The use of food additives is only justified when their use has a technological need and are added intentionally 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, 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 assessments 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.

WHO, together with FAO, groups food additives into 3 broad categories based on their function like flavouring agents, enzymes and additives such as colouring agents, preservatives (antimicrobials, antioxidants), sweeteners (appetizers), stabilizers (texturising agent), flavouring agents (flavour enhancers), anti-caking agents (dehumidifiers), food thickeners, gums or hydrocolloids, etc. The need for their use arises due to the fact that numerous benefits are associated with the use of food additives. With this objective, a large amount of these substances, of various chemical structures, have been used for many years.