Food additives preservatives

The list of potentially hazardous materials includes drugs, food additives, preservatives, ores, pesticides, dyes, detergents, lubricants, soaps, plastics, extracts from plant and animal sources, plants and animals that are toxic by contact or consumption, and industrial intermediates and waste products from production processes. Some of the information refers to materials of undefined composition. The chemicals included are assumed to exhibit the reported toxic effect in their pure state unless otherwise noted. However, even in the case of a supposedly pure chemical, there is usually some degree of uncertainty as to its exact composition and the impurities that may be present. This possibility must be considered in attempting to interpret the data presented because the toxic effects observed could in some cases be caused by a contaminant. Some radioactive materials are included but the effect reported is the chemically produced effect rather than the radiation effect. 

Food additives (preservatives, coloring and flavoring agents, antioxidants, etc.)... 

Products and Uses A food additive, preservative, and antimicrobial in baked goods, beverages, food colors, milk, sausage (dry), and wine. 

Products and Uses An emulsifier, film former, stabilizer, suspending agent, and thickening agent. Used as a food additive, preservative, and antimicrobial. 

Food dyes, flavor enhancers and preservatives receive the brunt of criticism in the family of food additives. Preservatives do not really deserve this bad reputation as they replaced older, traditional techniques (smoking, curing) that are actually not without dangers. 

The majority of food enzymes are used as processing aids, and they have no function in the final food. Eor that reason, they do not need to be declared on the label, and will not be present in the final food in any significant amount. A few enzymes, however, are used both as processing aids and as food additives. When used as additives, they must be declared on the food label using the appropriate class name, eg, preservative or antioxidant ... 

Vitamin C, or ascorbic acid, is surely the best known of all vitamins. It was the first vitamin to be discovered (1928), the first to be structurally characterized (1933), and the first to be synthesized in the laboratory (1933). Over 200 million pounds of vitamin C are now synthesized worldwide each year, more than the total amount of all other vitamins combined. In addition to its use as a vitamin supplement, vitamin C is used as a food preservative, a "flour improver" in bakeries, and. an animal food additive. 

The first strategy is to rmdertake a superficial scan of mainstream textbooks that everyday situations have been connected to cormnon school chemistry textbooks. For example, student-exercises may contain informatiorr, about contaminants in a river such as lead salts, about acid-base indicators in plants or about food additives for the preservation of wine. However, implicit confusion may (and frequently will) occur when the textbook and the teacher aim at reaching the right answer, for example the correct calculation of the concentration of an additive in gram per litre or parts per million (ppm). Students may still pose questions such as How many glasses of wine can I drink before 1 will get sick What is the effect of alcohol on my body Why is the addition of sulphite to wine important Is the same fact tme for red wine Or even further Shouldn t the government prohibit the addition of sulphite In this way students can become personally involved in subjects that can be related to their learning of chemical substances, and even to atoms and molecules. But, the student-activities in mainstream school chemistry textbooks often are not focused on this type of involvement they do not put emphasis in the curriculum on personal, socio-scientific and ethical questions that are relevant to students lives and society. 

Olivas GI, Rodriguez JJ and Barbosa-Canovas GV. 2003. Edible coatings composed of methylcellulose, stearic acid, and additives to preserve quality of pear wedges. J Food Proc Preserv 27(4) 299—320. 

Natural enemy preservation, in integrated pest management, 14 351 Natural extracts, as food additives, 12 46 Natural fibers, 11 164, 285 24 613, 615-616... 

Miscellaneous Food Additives Directive 95/2/EC (e.g. preservatives, antioxidants, emulsifiers, stabilisers, thickeners, flavour enhancers, acidity regulators, etc.)... 

As required by Directive 89/107/EEC, criteria of purity have been drawn up for all the listed food additives (with a couple of exceptions). Purity criteria for all the permitted sweeteners have been prescribed in Directive 95/31/EC,6 as amended, and criteria for all the permitted colours are contained in Directive 95/ 45/EC,7 as amended. Directives that prescribe purity criteria for all the additives authorised under Directive 95/2/EC have been drawn up in stages. Directive 96/ 77/EC8 containing purity criteria for antioxidants and preservatives is amended by Directives 98/86/EC which lays down purity criteria for emulsifiers, stabilisers and thickeners and 2000/63/EC which contains purity criteria for most additives numbered E 500 and above, and for certain other additives not covered in the earlier directives. Purity criteria for most of the few remaining permitted miscellaneous additives are contained in Directive 2001/30/EC however, purity criteria for E 1201 polyvinylpyrrolidone and E 1202 polyvinylpolypyrrolidone are still being considered by the Scientific Committee on Food. Some methods of analysis for verifying prescribed purity criteria have been developed at EU level these are contained in Directive 81/712/EEC.9... 

It is important to note that not only are directly added (intentional) substances, such as preservatives, considered food additives, but indirectly added (unintentional) substances, such as sanitizers used on processing equipment, may also be categorized as food additives. There are four groups of substances that are exempted from the Food Additives Amendment. They are ... 

There is a recent trend towards simultaneous CE separations of several classes of food additives. This has so far been applied to soft drinks and preserved fruits, but could also be used for other food products. An MEKC method was published (Lin et al., 2000) for simultaneous separation of intense sweeteners (dulcin, aspartame, saccharin and acesulfame K) and some preservatives (sorbic and benzoic acids, sodium dehydroacetate, methyl-, ethyl-, propyl- and isopropyl- p-hydroxybenzoates) in preserved fruits. Ion pair extraction and SPE cleanup were used prior to CE analysis. The average recovery of these various additives was 90% with good within-laboratory reproducibility of results. Another procedure was described by Frazier et al. (2000b) for separation of intense sweeteners, preservatives and colours as well as caffeine and caramel in soft drinks. Using the MEKC mode, separation was obtained in 15 min. The aqueous phase was 20 mM carbonate buffer at pH 9.5 and the micellar phase was 62 mM sodium dodecyl sulphate. A diode array detector was used for quantification in the range 190-600 nm, and limits of quantification of 0.01 mg/1 per analyte were reported. The authors observed that their procedure requires further validation for quantitative analysis. 

Consumers have a paradoxical view of food additives. The term itself often has a negative connotation among consumers, who frequently state a preference for foods that are natural and made without chemical additives and preservatives. However, these same individuals also claim to prefer foods that are nutritious, convenient and maintain freshness, precisely the foods which are likely to contain nutritional additives and preservatives such as antioxidants (Sloan, 1998). 

In the latter Directive, except for antioxidants and preservatives, individual uses are not listed in either the basic Directive or in the Directives on purity criteria (specifications). In the EU, the functional use of the main additives permitted for use in processed foods are described in Directive 89/107/EC. There are 23 listed which are shown in Table 11.1. In this chapter we are concerned with 17 categories listed in the Directive 95/2/EC on food additives other than colours and sweeteners (these are indicated by an asterisk in Table 11.1). 

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