Functions of Food Additives

Functions of Food Additives

Food additives are mainly used to maintain the quality and consistency of food apart from improving its taste and flavor. They have also been used as a preservative from the early ages.

Some of the common functions of Food Addictives are:

• Taste: Improves the taste or appearance of any food product, e.g. glazing agents on fruits.
• Preservative: Preserves food by increasing its storage life, e.g. preservatives like sodium benzoate in squashes.
• Quality: Increases the quality or stability of the food, e.g. humectants added to mixed dried foods,

  antioxidants prevent fats from becoming rancid.

• Color/Flavor: Provides the right color and improves the flavor, e.g. commercially available coloring agent curcumin used in turmeric powder.
• Consistency: Maintains the consistency of the product, e.g. anti-caking agents that prevents lumping together of the prepared food.
• Convenience food: Helps to prepare convenience foods, e.g. frozen peas(3^✔).

References:

1. Food additives. - (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/277126/)
2. Food Additives and Child Health. - (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6298598/)
3. Food additives: From functions to analytical methods. - (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34058921/)
4. Food additives: Assessing the impact of exposure to permitted emulsifiers on bowel and metabolic health � introducing the FADiets study. - (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nbu.12408)
5. Food Colour Additives: A Synoptical Overview on Their Chemical Properties, Applications in Food Products, and Health Side Effects. - (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8834239/)
6. A review of the alleged health hazards of monosodium glutamate. - (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6952072/)
7. New composite nitrite-free and low-nitrite meat-curing systems using natural colorants. - (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3967773/)
8. Cyclamates. - (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK402042/)