Are food additives harmful? Let us learn about food additives scientifically

Many people often say that snacks are full of additives, and even a stick of ice cream contains more than a dozen food additives, which are all unhealthy.

They firmly believe that food without food additives is safer. So, what are food additives? Are food additives really unhealthy?

What are food additives?

According to my country's Food Hygiene Law (1995), food additives are artificial or natural substances added to food to improve the color, aroma, taste and other qualities of food, as well as for the needs of preservation and processing.

At present, there are 23 categories and more than 2,000 varieties of food additives in my country, including acidity regulators, anti-caking agents, defoaming agents, antioxidants, bleaching agents, leavening agents, colorants, color preservatives, enzyme preparations, flavor enhancers, nutritional fortifiers, preservatives, sweeteners, thickeners, spices, etc.

Are there food additives in snacks?

For a long time, there has been a misconception that food additives are all equal to "unsafe", and the public has paid much attention to relevant information. In recent years, many foods have been marketed as "without any additives" as a selling point. The proliferation of such content will have a serious impact on the food industry, industrial development and people's health.

Food additives undergo rigorous safety evaluation before being approved for use. So far, no incidents of harm to consumer health have been found due to the unregulated use of food additives.

Misunderstandings about food additives reflect many people’s distrust of industrially produced and non-natural products. For example, when they see skin care product advertisements, they think those that say natural herbs are better. When they hear others talk about nutritional supplements, they think they are artificially synthesized and there is no need to take them, and that daily diet is enough.

In fact, if your daily diet is unreasonable or you have wrong nutritional concepts, taking some dietary supplements will bring more benefits to your health.

Food additives are artificial or natural substances added to food to improve the color, aroma and taste of food, as well as to meet the needs of preservation, freshness and processing technology.

Whether to add food additives is determined by the nature of the food and the production process. For foods with a relatively high protein content, a certain amount of preservatives must be added to ensure food quality and safety, otherwise it will easily spoil.

Therefore, the safety of food cannot be judged simply by whether there are food additives. The standardized use of food additives, the compliance of varieties and the appropriate amount can ensure food safety. Food without food additives has a short shelf life and is very easy to spoil.

The main function of food additives

Food additives have greatly promoted the development of the food industry and are known as the soul of the modern food industry. This is mainly because they bring many benefits to the food industry. Their main functions are roughly as follows:

1. Prevent deterioration

For example, preservatives can prevent food from spoiling due to microorganisms, extend the shelf life of food, and prevent food poisoning caused by microbial contamination. Another example: antioxidants can prevent or delay the oxidation of food to provide food stability and storage resistance, while also preventing the formation of potentially harmful auto-oxidative substances in fats and oils. In addition, they can also be used to prevent enzymatic and non-enzymatic browning of food, especially fruits and vegetables. These are all of certain significance to food preservation.

2. Improve sensory organs

1. Improve food sensory properties

Appropriate use of colorants, color preservatives, bleaching agents, flavorings, emulsifiers, thickeners and other food additives can significantly improve the sensory quality of food and meet people's different needs.

2. Maintain Nutrition

Maintain and improve nutritional value

Appropriately adding certain food nutrient enhancers that fall within the range of natural nutrition during food processing can greatly improve the nutritional value of food, which is of great significance for preventing malnutrition and nutritional deficiencies, promoting nutritional balance, and improving people's health level.

3. Convenient supply

Increase variety and convenience

There are more than 20,000 kinds of food available for consumers to choose from in the market. Although most of these foods are produced through certain packaging and different processing methods, in the production process, some products with good color, fragrance and taste are mostly added with coloring, fragrance, seasoning and even other food additives to varying degrees. It is the supply of these numerous foods, especially convenient foods, that brings great convenience to people's lives and work.

4. Convenient processing

Convenience food processing

The use of defoamers, filter aids, stabilizers and coagulants in food processing can be beneficial to food processing operations. For example, when glucono delta lactone is used as a tofu coagulant, it can be beneficial to the mechanization and automation of tofu production.

The safety of food additives ultimately depends on the amount used and the amount consumed , and has no necessary connection to the type or quantity used.

As long as they are used reasonably in accordance with national standards, the safety of food additives is guaranteed and there is no need to worry too much.