12. Food additives

From greek.doctor
  • Definition: Substances added to food to preserve flavour or enhance its taste, appearance or other qualities
  • Examples:
    • Preserving foods with vinegar or salting
    • Sweetening foods
    • Adding taste enhancers like monosodium glutamate (MSG) – enhances umami taste
    • Adding antioxidants to prevent oxidation of the food
    • Adding nitrites to preserve the food longer
    • Adding sulphur dioxide to wine to preserve it
  • All food additives in Europe have a unique “E number”
    • E100 – E199 – food colours
    • E200 – E299 – preservatives
      • E250 – sodium nitrite
    • E300 – E399 – antioxidants, acidity regulators
    • E400 – E499 – Thickeners, stabilizers, emulsifiers
    • E500 – E599 – Acidity regulators, anti-caking agents
    • E600 – E699 – flavour enhancers
    • E700 – E799 – antibiotics
    • E900 – E999 – Glazing agents, gases, sweeteners
    • E1000 – E1599 – additional additives
  • Approval of new food additives in the EU
    • Takes 10+ years in total
    • At least 5 years of safety testing
  • Potential negative health effects
    • Nitrites
      • They are used to preserve cured meat
      • They can react with amines in food in the acidic environment of the stomach to form nitrosamine, a known carcinogenic compound
    • Some people have allergies to certain food additives
      • Chinese restaurant syndrome – “allergy” to MSG (not a true allergy, likely nocebo effect)