The Food Additives are used to increase flavor, texture, shelf life and nutritional properties of the food we eat. Additives are grouped depending on the function they perform when added to food, such as stabilizers, thickeners, gelling agents, anticaking agents, coating agents, packaging gases, or propellants.
As indicated by the digital bulletin of European Food Information Council, food additives are substances that are added to food to serve specific technical purposes. Only substances that are not normally consumed as a food itself and not normally used as a characteristic ingredient in food qualify as an additive.
In the European Union, three directives establish the list of additives that can be used, the foods in which they can be used and the maximum levels. Additives approved as safe for use in food have an E number (E for Europe), which is also a simple and convenient way to label permitted additives in the full range of languages of the European Union.
Below we reproduce the information offered from the EUFIC website on use and function some of the most common additives in the processed foods we eat.
stabilizers
Many foods contain mixtures of oil and water, known as emulsions. Emulsions are formed by joining substances called emulsifiers, which allow water and oil to mix together. stabilizers used in foods such as mayonnaise, vinaigrettes, and ice cream to prevent emulsions from separating and therefore help to maintain the physical and textural properties of food. The most common stabilizers include locust bean gum or carob flour (E410) and alginates (E400-404), which originate from certain species of marine algae.
thickeners
Thickeners are added to fluid foods to increase its viscosity and are usually composed of carbohydrates, for example hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (E464). Carbohydrate-based thickeners cause fluids to thicken during heating, when the starch granules that the carbohydrates are made of absorb water and swell. This process causes the starch granules to trap water molecules, causing the fluid to thicken. Thickeners are added to a wide variety of foods, including sauces and pastes.
gelling agents
Gelling agents are used to thicken and stabilize liquid foodss, thus providing texture. Although they serve a very similar purpose to thickeners, as the name suggests, gelling agents form gels. Gelling agents are generally proteins or carbohydrates, which when dissolved in liquid foods form a kind of three-dimensional network. This creates a unique food that is solid in appearance but is mostly made up of liquid, such as jellies, jams, and candies. The most common gelling agents include pectin (E440) and carrageenan (E407).
Anticaking Agents
Powdered or granulated foods are responsible for the absorption of moisture, which causes the particles to become sticky and form lumps. Lumps make it very difficult to use granular or powdered foods as they cannot be weighed, spread or mixed evenly.
anticaking substances they work by coating food particles and absorbing excess moisture. This repulsion of moisture from the surface of the food helps prevent lumps and retains the dispersal characteristics of the food. One of the most common anti-caking agents is calcium silicate (E552), which is used to prevent lumps in baking powder and table salt.
coating agents
Glazing agents are used to provide a glossy, protective coating on foods such as confectionery, fruit, and baked goods. The most common glazing agents include: beeswax (E901), carnauba wax (E903) and fatty acids (E570).
packaging gases
Packaging gases are used to modify the atmosphere in which food is packaged to control ripening, inhibit chemical changes, and prevent spoilage. This is achieved using a technique known as modified atmosphere packaging, in which the air inside the package is replaced by a mixture of pure gases such as oxygen (E948), carbon dioxide (E290) and nitrogen (E941).
Depending on the food and the desired effect, lDifferent formulations of gases are blown into the packaging. For example, mixtures of carbon dioxide (30-60%) and nitrogen (40-70%) can inhibit the growth of many microorganisms and could be used to reduce microbial remains in meat and fish, while carbon dioxide combinations (20-30%) and oxygen (70-80%) may be used to help prevent discoloration of red meats.
thrusters
Pressurized aerosol containers are used to dispense fluid food products in the form of a liquid, foam, or spray. The use of propellants provides the necessary pressure to force the fluid food out of the aerosol container.
The most commonly used propellants include nitrogen (E941), nitrous oxide (E942) and carbon dioxide (E290). These latter propellants are typically used to dispense foam and spray type products such as whipped cream, cheese, and mustard. This is because nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide tend to dissolve in the fluid food and expand during its release from the container, causing a spray or foam to form. Nitrogen does not exhibit such properties and is therefore used to dispense foods that do not require a liquid form such as oils and syrups.