This document provides information about food additives. It begins with definitions of direct and indirect food additives. It then discusses the various types of additives like colors, preservatives, emulsifiers, antioxidants, flavors, and sweeteners. The roles and functions of additives are explained, such as preservation and improving nutritional value. The document also covers coding of additives, food safety concerns, and the pros and cons of using additives.

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CHEMISTRY
M.MARISANKAR,
BSc .CHEMISTRY.
PRESENTED BY,..

3. mnj

4.  Food additives
 Direct food additives
 Indirect food additives
 Types of additives
 Roles and functions of food additives in food
 Coding of food additives
 Food safety (food additives)
 Food preservation
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5.  Food additives may be natural or artificial.
 Any substance a food producer intentionally adds to a food for a specific purpose.
 Substances intentionally added to food to improve colour, flavour, keeping quality,
nutritive value or physical condition(texture).
 Around 3,000 additives used to preserve foods.
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6. Anything added to food by manufacturers.
Additives are used to:
oPreserve or add flavor
o Keep from going bad
o Improve nutritional value
oEnhance taste, appearance, smell, color.
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7. FOOD ADDITIVES
Pros:
 Food is more appealing to the eye and tasty.
Cons:
 Long term effects such as cancer.
 Food allergies to additives are hard to avoid and can be severe .
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8. Direct Food Additives
• Anti-caking agents
• Antimicrobial agents
• Antioxidants
• Colours
• Curing and pickling agents
• Emulsifiers
• Enzymes
• Firming agents
• Flavour enhancers
• Flavouring agents
• Humectants
• Leavening agents
• Release agents
• Nutrient supplements
• Nutritive sweeteners
• Oxidizing and reducing agents
• Ph control agents
• Propellants and gases
• Sequestrants
• Solvents and vehicles
• Stabilizers and thickeners
• Surface-active agents
• Leavening agents
• Release agents
• Non-nutritive sweeteners
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9. Indirect Food Additives
• Processing Aids
• Food Contact Materials
• Packaging Materials
• Cleaning Agents
• Ion-exchange resins, filter aids
• Enzyme preparations
• Microorganisms
• Solvents
• lubricants
• release agents
• Specific function additives
• Utensils
• Working surfaces
• Equipment
• Metal
• Plastic
• Paper
• wood
• Detergents
• Sanitizers
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10. HOW ADDITIVES ARE USED
 Improving Storage Properties –
 Preservatives-chemicals used to prevent mold and bacteria
from spoiling food
 Don’t affect a food’s flavor, color , or texture
 Preservatives can have an added purpose
 To color and flavor cured meats
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11. INCREASING HEALTHFULNESS
 Fortification – adding nutrients not
normally found in the food.
 Restoration – nutrients that are lost in processing are returned to the
food.
 Enrichment – adding nutrients lost in processing back in the food along
with extra nutrients that did not exist before.
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12. 1.
•Natural
2. •Artificial
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13. Natural Additives
 Additives such as salt and sugars have been around thousands of years
 Occur naturally in food or plants..
 found naturally, such as extracts from beetroot juice (E162), used as a
colouring agent.
Example :
Salt, sugar, seaweed.
Salt – prevents meat from spoiling 13

14.  Made in a laboratory
Chemicals are joined or modified in the lab.
Artificial
 produced synthetically and not found naturally, such as nisin (E234), used as a
preservative in some dairy products and in semolina and tapioca puddings.
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15. Colourings: E100-199
Preservatives: E200-299
Antioxidants: E300-399
Physical conditioning agents: E400-E499
Flavourings: No E nos.
Flavour Enhancers: E 600-699
Sweeteners: E900-999
Nutritive additives: No E nos.
Classification of additives
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To impart appealing colour to foods, natural and
Artificial ( synthetic ) colourants are used..

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Natural food colourants:
The plant pigments can be extracted and used as colouring agents for
food.
Examples,.
i. Turmeric – it is used to colour food yellow.
ii. Chlorophyl – it is the green pigment of plant leaves. It is used to colour sweets, soups, ice
creams etc..
iii. β – carotene – it is an orange – yellow pigment extracted from carrots. It is used to colour
fruit juices, cakes, butter, and margarine.

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Artificial food colourants
The natural colours fade during the process of food making. To improve their
trade, food manufactures used artificial colourants which are mostly azo dyes or
triphenylmethane dyes.
Colours Type Of Dye
Red, Orange, Yellow Monoazo Dyes
Brown, Black Diazo Dyes
Green, Blue, Violet Triphenylmethane Dyes
Most of the synthetic dyes have adverse effects and hence their use is restricted, synthetic food colourants
within the limit specified by government laws ( Essential Commodities Act, Consumer Protection Act,
AGMARK) are used.
Examples – Tartrazine, Amaranath, Brilliant Blue FCF, Etc..

20. ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER
In 2003, approximately 4.4 million children aged 4--17 years were
reported to have a history of ADHD diagnosis; of these, 2.5 million (56%) were
reported to be taking medication for the disorder . Some studies have linked some
food additives to hyperactivity in children. A recent British study found that children
without a history of any hyperactive disorder showed varying degrees of
Hyperactivity after consuming fruit drinks with various levels of additives. Among
those that were studied were: Sodium benzoate (E211), Tartrazine (E102), quinoline
yellow (E104), Sunset yellow (E110), Carmosine (E122), Allura red (E129).
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The Food Standards Agency suggest if signs of hyperactivity or Attention
Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder are seen in a child, these additives should be
avoided.

21. EMULSIFIERS, STABILISERS, GELLING AGENTS AND THICKENERS
• Emulsifiers help mix ingredients together that would normally separate, e.g.
Lecithins (E322).
• Stabilisers prevent ingredients from separating again,
e.g. locust bean gum (E410).
• Emulsifers and stabilisers give food a consistent texture, e.g. they can be found
in low-fat spreads.
• Gelling agents are used to change the consistency of a food, e.g. pectin (E440),
which is used to make jam.
• Thickeners help give food body, e.g. can be found
in most sauces.
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ANTIOXIDANTS E300-399
Antioxidants are substances used to prevent food spoilage by atmospheric
oxidation.
Examples.,
1. butylated hydroxy anisole (BHA):
it is used to preserve cereals, chewing gum, potato chips and vegetable oils.
2. butylated hydroxy toluene (BHT):
it is used to preserve cereals, vegetables oil, fatty acids and vitamin
preparation.

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Flavours
The term flavour refers to a mixed sensation of taste and smell. Flavours
are used to make the food delicious and pleasant smelling. Flavours are of two
types:
1. Natural flavours
2.. Synthetic flavours
Natural flavours:
Examples,
i. Essential oils ( caraway oil, clove oil, cinnamon oil, coriander oil, lemon oil, orange
oil, peppermint oil, etc..
ii. Spices and condiments ( coriander, chilli, pepper, mustard, asafoetida, cardamom.

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Synthetic flavour:
Examples:
1. Vanillin ( 4-hydroxy-3-methoxy-butyraldehyde ):
It is a cream coloured crystalline solid. It has characteristic taste and
odour of vennila. It imparts chocolate flavour to foods.
2. Benzaldehyde ( C6H5CHO ) : it is a light yellow coloured liquid
with the characteristic smell of bitter almonds.
3. Monosodium glutamete ( MSG ): it has a pleasant salty taste
and meat-like aroma. It is used in frozen or canned fish and meat.
4. Isovaleraldehyde and Maltol is the chocolate flavour..

27.  Nonnutritive sugars - artificial sweeteners and have no calories.
 Nutritive sweeteners - natural and metabolize to produce calories.
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Nutritive sweeteners
Nutritive sweeteners metabolize to produce calories.
Examples,.
sugar(sucrose), brown sugar, maple syrup, molasses, and honey.
 Sorbitol ( taste ½ as sweet as sucrose, diabetics use this sugar)
 sorbitol absorbs more slowely from the intestinal tract than sucrose does,
so the blood sugar level may not rise as high.
C12H22O11

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Non nutritive sweeteners
Nonnutritive 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 petrolium products (coal tar), 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.

30. CODING OF FOOD ADDITIVES
The food additive coding system was developed by the European
Community (EC). The European food additive code numbers are
prefixed by 'E' (e.g. E223). These E-numbers indicate the food
additives that are approved for use in Europe.
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31. LEGAL CONTROL OVER USE OF
ADDITIVES IN EU
 List of approved additives
 Approved additives have been well tested
 In EU every approved additive has E number (except flavourings)
 The E no. or name must be on labels
 Additives should not reduce nutritive value
 Cannot be used to disguise faults
 Must not be health hazard
 Must not mislead consumerMust be used in smallest possible effective
quantity
 Colourings not allowed in fresh fruit, veg. meat, poultry, fish
 Preservatives and BHA, BHT and colourings not allowed in baby food.
 Sweeteners not permitted in food for infants or young children 31

32. Additives are tested by the European Scientific Committee for Food (SCF)
The SCF take advice from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the
Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA)
In Ireland the FSAI are responsible for enforcing the safe use of food
additives
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33. E Numbers ADDITIVES
100-199 Food colors
200-299 Preservatives
300-399 Antioxidants, phosphates, and
complexing agents
400-499 Thickeners, gelling agents, phosphates,
humectants, emulsifiers
500-599 Salts and related compounds
600-699 Flavor enhancers
700-899 Not used for food additives (used for feed
additives)
900-999 Surface coating agents, gases, sweeteners
1000-1399 Miscellaneous additive
1400-1499 Starch derivatives
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35. FOOD SAFETY
Two major groups of food sensitivity are known as food allergy and
food intolerance. Food allergies are abnormal immunologic
responses to a particular food or food component. In contrast, food
intolerances are non-immunologic responses. Generally, total
avoidance of the culprit food is necessary for true food allergies. Food
intolerances can be managed by limiting the amount of the food or
food ingredient that is eaten. Total avoidance is usually not necessary
for food intolerances.
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37. ADVANTAGES OF ADDITIVES
 Increase shelf life – preservatives
 Reduce risk of food poisoning – preservatives
 Prevent waste – preservatives
 Make food more appetising – colouring
 Improve taste – flavouring
 Improve texture – physical conditioning agents
 Increase nutritive value
 Provide wider variety of foods
 Ensure consistency of quality
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38. DISADVANTAGES OF ADDITIVES
 Allergies: migraine, hyperactivity, rashes
e.g. tartrazine
 Little known about cumulative or combined effect of additives.
 Bulking agents can deceive consumers
 Some additives destroy nutrients
e.g. sulphur dioxide destroys vit. B
 Sweetners can leave bitter aftertaste
e.g. saccharine
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39. REGULATING ADDITIVES
 (FDA)The Food and Drug Administration is responsible for keeping
food safe for consumers
 FDA holds manufacturers accountable for labeling additives in
food products
 There are four purposes of additives
 Improve storage properties
 Increase healthfulness
 Make food more appealing
 Improve processing and preparing 39

40. POOR EATING HABITS
 Leads to nutrient deficiencies
 Adding nutrients where they don’t occur naturally makes getting
balanced nutrition more confusing
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41. UNNEEDED ADDITIVES
 Wax on apples, oranges, eggplant and lemons are FDA-approved as
preservative.
-maintain freshness by sealing in moisture .
 Critics warn that by conditioning buyers to set unnatural standards for foods,
producers discourage people from eating what’s really good for them .
 Using additives raises the price of the product.
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42. HOW TO AVOID HARMFUL ADDITIVES?
 Mostly in processed/prepackaged food
 Eat fresh food that doesn’t last for weeks
 Buy local and organic
 No fried, processed, or sugary food
 Avoid brightly colored snacks
 No “convenience” food
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