types of food additives and their examples

-food preservative have been used since ancient times. ancient civilization used salt to preserve meat and fish, herbs and spices to improves the flavor of food.
-food additives are chemicals that are added to food in small quantities for specific purpose such as protection against bacterial attack or restoring the colour of food destroyed during processing.
-food additives are used to

• retard food spoilage and to preserves food (longer shell life)
• make food taste better or smell better
• add colouring to food so that the foods look fresher, more interesting and more appealing.  

-there are two main group of food additives :
a) preservatives and antioxidants to protect food from being spoiled by bacteria attack or atmospheric oxidation. In this way, the food can be kept longer.
b) Flavouring agents, stabilizers, thickening agents (thickeners), and dyes (colouring agents) to enhances the taste, smell and appearance of the foods.


Examples of food additives:


#Preservatives > sodium nitrite, sodium nitrate, benzoic acid, sodium benzoate, sulphur dioxide, sodium sulphite, sorbic acid, sodium sorbate.


#Antioxidants > ascorbic acid (Vitamin C), BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole), BHT (butylated hydrixitoluence), citric acid, sodium citrate.


#Flavouring agents > monosodium glutamate (MSG), aspartame


#Stabilizers and thickening agents > gelatin, acacia gum (agar)


#Dyes (colouring agents) > Azo compounds, tripheny compounds.


or more information about food preservative, click here or here.


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