Food Additives A Review..!

Food Additive means any substance not normally consumed as a food by itself and not normally used as a typical ingredient of the food,whether or not it has nutritive value, the intentional addition of which to food for a technological purpose.

- Harsha Pore

INTRODUCTION

Food additives are intentionally added to food and must be safe for a lifetime of consumption based on current toxicological evaluation. Food additives are used for the purpose of maintaining or improving the keeping quality, texture, consistency, appearance and other technological requirements. Food additives do not include use of vitamins, minerals, herbs, salt, spices, yeast, hops, starter cultures, malt extract etc. Food additives are classified on the basis of their functional use and are grouped as:

1. Colours

2. Preservatives

3. Acidity Regulator

4. Antioxidants

5. Antifoaming Agents

6. Artificial sweeteners

7. Enzymes

8. Emulsifiers

9. Flavours

10. Modified Starches

11. Stabilizers

1. COLOURS :

There are three types of colors in food industry. One is natural and other is nature identical and the third is synthetic. Natural colors are extracted directly from the natural pigments of food, comparatively higher in cost than rest two.

Synthetic colors are completely made in the lab using chemicals compounds. Colors enhance the sensorial properties the food product, makes it bright, vibrant and attractive to the consumer eyes.

2. PRESERVATIVES:

Preservatives are the compounds added to food extend the shelf life of a product in order to reduce the microbial growth in food.

FSS (Food Product Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011 defines preservative as “a substance which when added to food is capable of inhibiting, retarding or arresting the process of fermentation, acidification or other decomposition of food” They are classified into Class I and Class II preservatives.