Food Additives
According to the definition by the FDA, it is as follows:
“Any substance that is generally consumed must have direct or indirect results from its consumption or be a part of the food’s composition and affect the characteristics of any food (impacting its production, preparation, processing, packaging, treatment, transport, or storage).”
In 1977, a nutrition expert named “Desrozier” referred in his book “Food Preservation Technology” to the list of chemical additives published by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
These materials include: flavor enhancers, flavorings and flavor intensifiers, emulsifiers, preservatives, and developers, and here are some examples of them.
Preservatives:
Preservatives are substances that can destroy spoilage factors or stop their activity or hide spoilage states or delay them. In other words, preservatives are substances that prevent undesirable changes in food materials or can hide or neutralize the undesirable transformations of food.
The consumption of a preservative type depends on the product type, types of bacteria, enzymes, and other spoilage factors, and overconsumption of it is harmful and should be strictly controlled.
Chemical preservatives are commonly divided into three groups:
1. Organic and sweet preservatives
2. Mineral preservatives
3. Conventional preservatives
1) Organic preservatives:
Benzoates
Estpropyl
Estrazyde Vanilic
Glycol
Propionates of fatty acids
Monochloroacetic acid
Benzoates:
One of the properties of benzoic acid, benzoates, is that they show strong reactions. Generally, the environment to which preservatives are added is very important. For example, if the pH of the environment changes from 7 to 3.5, its acidity increases and the effectiveness of the preservatives against microorganisms may increase by 10-5 times. The part of benzoic acid that does not remain ionized in the solution has antimicrobial properties.
It is important to note that the effect of benzoic acid on molds is less and on yeasts is higher.
