Food categories

Flavors are often used to create the impression of flavor where Httie or none exist, and they impart food products with a recognizable character. Some food products would not exist without the addition of flavorings, eg, soft drinks, water ices, confectionery, milk desserts, etc. Many food products need a specific flavor note to characterize them among other similar products of the same food category, eg, citms soft drinks, mint candies, gingerbread, yogurt, and cottage cheese. 

Dietary fibers are used in several food categories, including breakfast cereals, pasta, snack foods, and baked goods, as well as some pharmaceutical categories such as enteral nutritionals, bulk laxatives, and diet beverage mixes (31). The common dietary fiber additives and their sources are given (32). 

Among them are cheese (limit 0.3%) (149), baked goods (limit 0.23%) (150), and margarine (limit 0.1% individually or 0.2% in combination with other preservatives) (151,152). Other permitted food categories include salad dressings (153) and condiments, where the limit of addition is generally 0.2%. Thus users must ascertain whether their particular food products are subject to a standard and, if so, what limitations apply. 

Acesulfame-K. Acesulfame-K [55589-62-3] (4), the potassium salt of acesulfame [33665-90-6] (6-methyl-l,2,3-oxathiaziQ-4(3ff)-one 2,2-dioxide), is a sweetener that resembles saccharin in stmcture and taste profile. 5,6-Dimethyl-l,2,3-oxathiazine-4(3ff)-one 2,2-dioxide, the first of many sweet compounds belonging to the dihydrooxathia2inone dioxide class, was discovered accidentally in 1967 (63). From these many sweet compounds, acesulfame was chosen for commercialisation. To improve water solubiUty, the potassium salt was made. Acesulfame-K (trade name Sunette) was approved for dry product use in the United States in 1988 and in Canada in October, 1994. Later, it was approved by the FDA for additional food categories such as yogurts, frosen and refrigerated desserts, and baked goods. 

Colors permitted generally quantum satis (E 101, E 140, E 160a, E 163) and colors with maximum inclusion levels for particular food categories (e.g., E 160d may not exceed 100 mg/1 in non-alcoholic flavored drinks)... 

According to estimates, the world retail market for organic food and beverages increased from 10 billion dollars in 1997 to 17.5 billion dollars in 2000. Expected growth rates of organic food are high (10% to 20%), particularly when compared with other food categories. 

The standards and limits adopted by the Codex Alimentarius Commission are intended for formal acceptance by governments in accordance with its general principles. Codex Alimentarius permits only those antioxidants which have been evaluated by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) for use in foods. Antioxidants may be used only in foods standardised by Codex. The antioxidant provisions of Codex Commodity Standards are included in and superseded by the provision of this Standard. Food categories or individual foods where the use of additives are not allowed or are restricted are defined by this Standard. The primary objective of establishing permitted levels of use of antioxidants in various food groups is to ensure that the intake does not exceed the acceptable daily intake (ADI). 

Working on the subject between 1986 and 1998, the EU Scientific Committee of Food (SCF), an independent expert body advising the European Commission on health matters, concluded that the food irradiation process posed no problem for health over a wide ranged of uses, if used under prescribed conditions and endorsed for authorization of 17 irradiated foods/food classes [129]. The Commission proposal in December 1998 for an EU directive contained eight food categories and three products. 

Three separate Directives must be consulted for the positive list of approved food additives, colors, and sweeteners, including the detailed listing of the food categories and the maximum level of use permitted within each food category. 

The total number of chemical contaminants vary widely depending on the food product category. For example, the accompanying table shows the total number of chemicals detected in each food category for every Market Basket. 

As most of us would anticipate, there should be variations in the number of different chemicals that contaminate the individual food products within each food category. This variation is illustrated for each of the food categories. 

Most of the child and infant food products have either no chemicals or very low chemical levels, yet 50 percent of all the child/infant products contain multiple chemical contaminates. Those food products with low to moderate chemical levels in this category tend to have moderate to very high levels in the other food categories (i.e., the Protein, Fruit, and Vegetable categories). In other words, it would seem that adult foods with high numbers of chemical contaminants will occur in children s food at relatively higher levels. 

Food Contamination Summary for the Mixed Food Category... 

In order to evaluate an individual s exposure to chemical mixtures, it was necessary to determine how frequently pesticide and industrial chemicals were found in each food product. The results of this determination are discussed for the basic food categories (i.e., dairy, protein, vegetable, fruit, and grain) as well as for the mixed food and child/infant food categories. 

The top-10 chemicals (or most frequently found chemicals in a food category) are also identified. For example, DDE was found in dairy products 65.4 percent of the time. 

Of all the food categories, dairy products also contain one of the higher frequencies of industrial chemicals (see Exhibit 2). This is expected because these industrial chemicals tend to accumulate in the fat of dairy products. The diversity of the chemicals found in dairy products, however, occurs for several reasons. Because chloroform is a byproduct of using a chlorine disinfectant, it would appear that a significant number of dairy producers in the United States either do not rinse or do not completely rinse their equipment after disinfection2. Another source of disinfection byproducts is from water that may be used in a dairy. Benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene, and xylenes and the other detected chlorinated petroleum solvents (e.g., CBZ, DCE, PCE, TCA, and TCE) occur in dairy foods is because (1) these chemicals were in products used to lubricate or clean machinery that contacted the dairy products or (2) these chemicals were in the ambient air of the dairy. 

The pesticides and industrial chemicals found in child and infant products are given in Exhibit 13. In general, the type and distribution of pesticides and industrial chemicals in child/infant products are somewhat similar to the basic food categories (i.e., dairy, protein, fruit, grain, and vegetable), but their concentrations are significantly different. On average, 45 percent of the child/infant products contain multiple contaminants as well as banned or discontinued pesticides. 

The information in Exhibit 14 has also been used to determine the makeup of the most common chemical mixture associated with eating a balanced diet. If a chemical occurs in at least five of the six food categories, it was selected as a common dietary contaminant and their average frequency in food products was determined. This complex chemical mixture is represented by two banned organochlorine pesticides, two chlorinated organophosphorus pesticides, three organochlorine pesticides, two organophosphorus pesticides, six aromatic petroleum hydrocarbons, and two chlorinated petroleum hydrocarbons. 

This percentage was determined by dividing the number of times a chemical was detected by the total number of chemical analyses in a food category. For example, in the Dairy category, DDE was detected in 149 samples of the 228 samples tested, or 65.4 percent of the samples were contaminated with DDE. 

Banned Organochlorine Pesticide l Averaged if Chemical Detected in 5 or More Food Categories... 

Organochlorine Pesticide Note The colored zones are for all top-10 chemicals within a Food Category... 

A child s school lunch may include both homemade and commercially prepared products. When considering the number of chemicals that occur in the mixed food category (i.e., commercially available and fast-food products), parents should seriously consider using fewer prepackaged products and switch to homemade lunch box foods made from organic products. 

Food categories that mostly contribute to the A1 total daily intake (see Table 10.7) are cereals and tubers (32 percent), and milk and dairy products (33 percent), which together make up 65 percent of total daily metal intake as reported in the... 

The B intake is 1.65 mg day-1 (range 0.54-3.19 mg day-1), which is slightly higher than the mean basal requirements (range 0.5-1.35 mg day-1), but below the toxic level of 13 mg day-1 [1], The intake is similar to that reported for 22 Canadian women, 1.33 +0.13 mg day-1 [34], but lower than that reported for Britons, 2.8 +1.5 mg day-1 [34]. The food category that mostly contributes to the B total daily intake (see Table 10.7) is vegetables and fruit (47 percent) [1],... 

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