Important facts
*Food additives are substances added to food to maintain or improve its texture, freshness, safety, appearance or taste.
* Foodstuffs need to be tested before consumption to see if they have any impact on human health
*The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) is an international body responsible for evaluating the safety of foodstuffs.
*Only food additives evaluated and deemed safe by JECFA, based on which the Codex Alimentarius Commission has established maximum use levels, are used in internationally traded foodstuffs. Can be done
What are foods?
Substances that are added to food to maintain or improve its freshness, texture, safety, taste, or appearance are called food additives. Some foods have been used for centuries as preservatives - such as sulfur dioxide (in wine). Sugar (in marmalade), or salt (in meats such as bacon or dried fish),
Many different nutrients have been developed over time to meet food production needs because small-scale home cooking is very different from large-scale cooking. Additives are needed to keep prepared food safe and in good condition during its journey from factories or industrial kitchens to warehouses, stores, and consumers.
benefits of food additives
Food additives are used when there is a technical need, such as to preserve the food's nutritional quality or increase the food's stability. The food is derived from animals, plants, or minerals, or They can be artificial. They are intentionally added to foods for technical purposes that consumers often take for granted. There are thousands of food additives used in foods, all designed to perform a specific function, such as making food safer or more palatable. WHO, in collaboration with FAO, to Food Additives Group them into three broad categories based on their function.۔
Flavouring agent-
Flavoring agents added to food to improve flavour or aroma are most commonly used in food products - flavourings in various foods, from soft drinks and confectionery to caske, cereals, and yoghurts. Hundreds of species are used. These include natural flavouring agents derived from nuts, fruit, spice compounds, and vegetables. Some agents mimic natural flavours.
Enzyme preparations are additives that may or may not end up in the final food product. Enzymes are naturally occurring proteins that catalyze biochemical reactions by breaking down large molecules into smaller building blocks. They can be obtained from plant or animal products or extracted from microorganisms such as bacteria and are used as an alternative to chemical-based technologies. They are mainly used in baking (to improve dough), making fruit juices (to increase yield), winemaking and drinking (to improve fermentation), as well as in cheese making (to improve curd formation). (to improve) are used.
Other additives Foods are used for various reasons, such as colouring, preservation, and sweetening. They are added during preparation, packaging, transportation or storage of food due to their properties and eventually become a food ingredient.
