Food Additives
Chapter 24
What is a Food Additive
 What is BHT, sorbic acid, and guar gum
mean?????
 They are examples of FOOD ADDITIVES!!

Food Additive = any substance a food
producer intentionally adds to a food for a
specific purpose.
 Producers use around 3,000 additives to preserve
and improve foods
Natural vs. Synthetic
 What are some examples of natural
additives??? – That means guess guys!!!!

Salt and sugar
 Artificial or synthetic are made in a laboratory;
they aren’t found naturally in food

The chemical “ingredients” are the same as any
that occur in nature, but the chemicals are joined
or modified in the food science lab to produce a
substance.
Common Food Additives (Few ex.)
 Acesulfame – K (Artificial sweetener, used in
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chewing gum)
Aspartame – Artificial sweetener
Azodicarbonamide – Bleaching agent in flour
Guar Gum – Stabilizer for ice cream and soups
MSG – Flavor enhancer in soups, Chinese foods
Saccarin – Artificial sweetener
Sodium citrate – pH controller; meat curer
Sorbitol – Nutritive sweetener
Tartaric Acid – pH controller used in soft drinks
The Food and Drug Administration
 Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) &
the World Health Organization (WHO) provide
oversight. Giving stricter guidelines about
food additives.
 Food and Drug Administration
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Responsible that the food we eat is safe!!!
Getting a food additive accepted is not simple
task, due to strict guidelines
 A manufacture must submit evidence from extensive
test, showing the substance does not cause short or
long term harm
 If satisfied they then determine how much is safe
for the public to eat
The FDA Continued
 Another FDA standard is called the Delaney
cause
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This states that any food additive that is shown to
cause cancer in humans or animals may not be
added to food
GRAS List = substances, such as spices, natural
seasoning, and flavorings, that are considered
safe for human consumption and not regulated as
additives.
 The GRAS list currently numbers about 670 items
Ingredient Labeling
 Manufactures are required to list all food
ingredients on the label

Example –suppose you want to produce
products made with only natural ingredients.
 The word “flavored” on a label tells you that the food
uses only natural flavorings
 These might be a variety of flavors, but all occur
naturally

A food labeled “artificially flavored” contains some
synthetic flavorings
How Additives Are Used
 The purpose of additives fall into four
categories
1.
2.
3.
4.
Improve storage properties
Increase healthfulness
Make food more appealing
Improve processing and preparation
Improving Storage Properties
 Two hundred years ago, diets were largely limited to
locally produced foods

Example 100 years ago a California orange sent to
Boston would be inedible LONG before it arrived
 Today that orange can be treated with preservatives
 These are usually chemicals used to prevent
mold and bacteria from spoiling food
 Commonly used preservatives include sodium
nitrate, sorbic acid, sodium bisulfite, and sodium
nitrate
 Preservatives are normally chosen because they
are economical and don’t affect a food’s flavor,
color or texture
 Some perseveres are chosen to enhance color
(meat is sometimes sprayed with sodium nitrate
– why?????)
Increasing Healthfulness
 Increasing additives is also included in boosting a
food’s nutritional profile.
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Fortification = is adding nutrients that are not normally
found in a food (ex. Milk is fortified with vit. D)
Restoration = nutrients that are lost in processing are
returned to the food with the process called restoration
(reestablishes the product’s original nutritive value ex.
Vit. C is put back into canned oranges)
Enrichment = adding nutrients lost in processing
(contain more nutrients than existed in the food before
processing (ex. Vitamins are increased)
Nitrification = process that adds nutrients to a food
with a low nutrient/kcalorie ratio so the food can
replace a nutritionally balanced meal (nutrition bars
and shakes are examples)
Making Food More Appealing thru
Color
 Almost all soft drinks, cheeses, ice cream,
jams, and jellies owe at least part of their
coloring to additives.
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Some colors are made from food (caramelizing
sugars)
However, nearly ½ the common colorings are
created in the laboratories
 Each of the synthetic colorings are identified with
a number (example yellow #1)
Making Food More Appealing thru
Flavor
 About 2000 natural and synthetic flavors are
available.

In the US five times as many products are grapeflavored as are flavored by the concord grape.
 Sometimes using a natural flavor would make a food
too costly to produce.
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Flavor enhancers are substance that gives no
flavor but bring out the flavor in the food.
Making Food More Appealing thru
Sweeteners
 Of all of the flavor enhancers, sweeteners are
the most common
 Sweeteners are basically either nutritive or
nonnutritive
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Nutritive sweeteners metabolize to produce
calories
 Examples are sugar (sucrose), brown sugar, maple
syrup, molasses, and honey.
 Sorbitol (taste ½ as sweet as sucrose, diabetics
use this sugar)
 Sorbitol absorbs more slowly from the intestinal
tract than sucrose does, so the blood sugar level
may not rise as high
Making Food More Appealing thru
Sweeteners
 Nonnative sugars are also called artificial sweeteners. (They
have no calories but still taste sweet. Following sweeteners are
currently approved by FDA:
 Sucralose – made from sugar but is 600 times sweeter.
(produces no calories)
 Saccharin – made from petroleum products, saccharin is 300
times as sweet as sucrose. If used in great amount, it
leaves a bitter taste.
 Aspartame – 200 times sweeter than sugar, supplies no
calories and leaves no aftertaste. Cannot be used in baked
goods or cooked products, it losses it’s sweeteners , which is
why many diet sodas have a use-by date
 Acesulfame – 200 times sweeter than sugar. Use in
candies, baked goods, frozen desserts, and beverages
Improving Processing and Preparation
 Stabilizer, substance that keeps a compound,
mixture, or solution from changing its form or
chemical nature.

Example without stabilizer, the fat in peanut
butter separates from the protein, creating an oil
pool over a stiff paste.
 Ice cream is creamy, in part because thickeners
prevent crystals from forming as it freezes and
stabilizes.
 Many stabilizers are natural and starch-based.
 Some are made from pectin, casein, sodium
caseinate, and gelatin
Concerns About Food Additives
 Some people believe that some additives
cause “more trouble than they’re worth.”
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One concern is not enough is known about the
long-term effects
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Example is nitrites which react with amines
(preservative in meat) is suspected of causing
cancer
 Nitrites prevent botulism, which the FDA believe will
out way the risks of using them, however the FDA
required them to be used in lower quantities.
 DO YOU THINK THERE ARE ANY RISKS IN
EATTING SO MANY PROCESSED FOODS?
Poor Eating Habits/Unneeded
Additives
 If you ate a food full of vitamins and minerals, (example
Total Cereal) do you think that you can skip more
healthier foods???
 WRONG – you would be missing fiber, protein an
other essential and nonessential nutrients. You also
can be getting to much of particular nutrients.
 Have you noticed that apples in the supermarket appear
much more shiner than foods freshly picked???
 Apples, oranges, eggplant, and lemons are treated
with a light coat of oil-based wax
 These waxes are approved as a preservatives, they help
maintain freshness by sealing in moisture
The Value of Food Additives
 Preservatives extend the shelf life of many
foods

Ex. mold inhibitor calcium propionate and BHT
are used in bread to prevent mold (keeping the fat
fresh)
 Supporters of food additives say additives
prevent disease caused by malnutrition

Goiter = an enlargement of the thyroid glad
caused by a lack of iodine
 This was then added to table salt in 1924
 Vit. D was added to milk in the 1930’s to help with
rickets (bone-deforming disease)
Questions
1. In general, what is a food additive?
2. How are natural and synthetic additives
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
different?
How does an additive gain acceptance from
the FDA?
What is the Delaney Clause?
Why is the GRAS list useful?
What are four basic uses for additives?
What is sodium nitrite and why is it used?
Question Continued
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
Compare four techniques producers use to increase
the nutritional value of food.
Describe three artificial sweeteners.
Would marshmallows crème be possible without
stabilizers? Why or why not?
Explain the arguments for and against using
nutritional additives in food.
According to supporters of food additives, what
would result from eliminating preservatives?
How would you advise someone who is worried
about chemicals in food?