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What are food additives?

There are many different types of additives  used in foods.

Additives are used for a variety of reasons,  such as to keep foods fresh,  improve  their nutritional value (eg. to increase  the amount of vitamins), help in the manufacturing process  (eg. make breads rise) and to make the foodstuff look and taste better.

All additives  are assessed for safety before they are allowed to be used. They are given a number - some have a prefix 'E' before the number. This meansthey  can be used in the European Union (eg. in the UK, France, Germany and Spain). Food manufacturers use at least 3,000 additives.

Food additives are grouped according to the job they do

Antioxidants: These stop oils and fats in foods from 'going off' (turning rancid). Vitamins C and E are two of the most widely used antioxidants.

Colours: These  make food look more appealing. When certain foods are processed, they lose some of their natural colour so additives are used to restore their original colour (eg. canned sweet corn). Colour additives can also be used to make the  the food look brighter (eg. make custard look more yellow).

Colours can be natural or man-made. Vitamins, such as beta-carotene (vegetable form of vitamin A), can be used as colours, too.

Flavour enhancers: These  can be found in savoury foods and dishes (eg. crisps, soups and sauces) and help to enhance or bring out the natural flavour).

Monosodium glutamate and hydrolysed vegetable protein are examples of flavour enhancers.

Sweeteners: Saccharin and aspartame are  used in diet drinks. They are many times sweeter than sugar and so are only used in tiny amounts.

Emulsifiers and stabilisers: Emulsifiers help mix the ingredients together while stabilisers prevent them from separating.

If you shake an oil and vinegar dressing together, they emulsify. But if you let the dressing settle again, the ingredients separate.  Examples include agar and soy lecithin.

Preservatives: These are used to help keep foods from 'going off' and so extend their shelf life  (eg. they can be added to stop mould from growing quickly on breads and cakes).

Sugar, salt and vinegar are often used to preserve some foods (eg. pickled onions, candied fruit, salted fish). Other examples of preservatives include sodium calcium propionate and sodium nitrite.

Can you make these ingredients look like a pizza food label?

Ingredients: Pizza Crust - wheat flour, water, partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, soy lecithin, artificial flavour and artificial colour (beta-carotene), yeast, high fructose corn syrup, salt, calcium propionate

Highlight soy lecithin and say it is an emulsifier

Highlight calcium propionate and say it is a preservative

Highlight high fructose corn syrup and say it is a flavouring

Safety of additives

There are a small number of people  who are allergic to food additives.

Overall,  additives  are used to ensure the quality of foods. There are so many different types of foods available nowadays,  it's important  that you read

their labels before you decide to buy them.

Quiz

1. Why are antioxidants added to some foods?

A. To add sweetness

B. To prevent fats from 'going off'

C. To add colour

D. To make the food taste better

2. Which of the following are examples of sweeteners?

A. Ascorbic acid

B. Calcium sulphate

C. Aspartame

D. Soy lecithin

3. Which of the following additives would food manufacturers use to enhance the flavour of tomato soup?

A. Salt

B. Sugar

C. Herbs

D. Hydrolysed vegetable protein

4. What food additive would you add to prevent an oil and vinegar dressing from separating?

A. Preservative

B. MSG

C. An emulsifier and stabiliser

D. Corn syrup

Answers:

1. B. To prevent fats from 'going off'

2. C. Aspartame

3. D. Hydrolysed vegetable protein

4. C. An emulsifier and stabiliser

Survey Results

A telephone survey in 2002 interviewed 1,200 Australian adults about the safety of foods. Forty-five per cent of them said they were more worried now about the quality of food than five years before while 5 per cent were less concerned.

28% were concerned about additives

21% were concerned about food processing and freshness

14% were concerned about food hygiene and contamination

14% were concerned about genetic modification



Do you know what you're eating?