What’s This In My Food? TUNKHANNOCK (Wyoming Co.) Although many of us never give them a thought, we count on a variety of food ingre dients to make food more ap pealing to the senses, provide nu tritional benefits and keep food fresh longer, among other things. These ingredients can cause con cern and confusion among con sumers especially if they have chemical names. Actually, many of these additives are quite famil iar, they just go by more scientif ic names when used on food la bels. For example, ascorbic acid is another name for vitamin C and alphatocopherol is vitamin E. • What Do They All Do? There are approximately 3,000 food additives used in this coun try, and many of them are com mon food ingredients we use at home every day, such as sugar or baking soda. Food additives are divided into categories based on function. Some of the basic cat egories are: addulants, antioxi dants, colors, emulsifiers, flavors and flavor enhancers, gums, pre servatives, sweeteners and vitamins/minerals. • Acidulants. A lemon-lime beverage or food product wouldn’t have that refreshing tartness without an acidulant in gredient. Basically, acidulants are acids that are used for flavor ing, as preservatives, for gelling and coagulation, and to help pre vent oxidation of fats and oils. Examples of acidulants include citric acid, tartaric acid, lactic acid, adipic acid, and malic acid. • Antioxidants. Many of us are familiar with the term “anti oxidants” from a health perspec tive. In this context, however, the antioxidants are added to delay or prevent rancidity. Over, time, fats and oils that come in contact with oxygen from the air can be come rancid developing un pleasant off-flavors and odors. Two of the most commonly used antioxidants are BHA, or buty lated hydroxyanisole, and BHT, or butylated hydroxytoluene. Natural antioxidants such as to copherols (forms, of vitamin E) and guaiac gum are also used. Food to which antioxidants are added include fats and oils, cere als, and high-fat foods such as doughnuts and chips. Morton Buildings Includes An Unequaled Warranty Package With Every Building Purchase • 50-year protection against snow load damage to structures with no weight limit • 50-year protection against decay or insect attack on preservative-treated columns and lumber • 20-year protection against red rust, fading, chalking, cracking and peelmg on roof and sidewall panels, including damage from atmospheric pollutants /fifk MORTON 800-447-7436 w BUILDINGS PO Box 599, Morton, 1L 61550 www mortonbuildmgs com ©1999 Morton Buildings Inc WV Contractor's License #WVOO7B4B • Colors. Almost everyone has had fim mixing up colored frost ing or coloring homemade play clay with food colors. Food col ors, dyes and pigments used in food, drugs and cosmetics are regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and require testing similar to that re quired for other food additives. Colors are either classified as “certified” or “exempt from cer tification.” All nine certified col ors are artificial, and most are named with the color name and number, (e.g.. Red #2, Yellow #5). Exempt colors are frequently derived from natural sources such as vegetables, and also must meet certain criteria for purity and safety. Examples of exempt colors include substances such as annatto extract (yellow), dehy drated beets (bluish-red to brown), caramel (yellow to tan), bet-carotene (yellow to orange) and grape skin extract (red, green). • Emulsifiers. In food science classes, making salad dressing or mayonnaise is the classic lesson for teaching what emulsions are. With proper mixing, fat or oil and water will combine to be come an emulsion. In food prod ucts, emulsifiers are added to keep emulsified products stable, reduce stickiness, control crystal lization, keep ingredients dis persed (such as spices within a salad dressing) and to help prod ucts dissolve more easily (such as powdered coffee creamer). They work because their chemical structure attracts fats on one end and water on the other, thereby letting the two substances com bine easily. Common emulsifiers include lecithin (often made from soybeans), alginates (chemical salts found in algae) and mono and diglycerides (syrup- or fat like substances found in alco hols). • Flavors and Flavor Enhanc ers. We all like our food pleasing flavors, and the food industry re lies on various substances to pro vide the flavors that consumers demand. Spices and herbs, essen tial oils and their extracts, fruit and fruit juices and manufac tured (also called “artificial”) compounds are classified as flavors. Often, both natural and artificial flavors are used togeth er in one food item. • 10-year protection against windload damage to Morton Buildings' AlumaSteel sliding doors with no velocity limit • 5-year protection against windload damage on the entire structure with no wind velocity limit • 5-year protection against roof-leaks on Morton Buildings' hi-nb steel panels Broad Street Market, Harrisburg, celebrated National Potato Month by holding potato cooking demonstrations throughout February. Chef Carrie Bogar, Empire Restaurant, Carlisle, prepares potato soup seasoned with roasted garlic, spices, and cream for visitors to sample. The market also held a potato art contest for kids and a potato lovers recipe contest. Somewhat less understood are flavor enhancers, the most com mon of which is probably mono sodium glutamate, or MSG. Since 1909 when it was first manufactured, MSG has been used in a variety of foods, includ ing meat and poultry items, soups and broths, salad dressings and sauces. MSG is the sodium salt of glutamic acid (glutamate), which is one of the most common amino acids found in nature. Al though it has no taste of its own, MSG works to enhance the flavors already present in foods. The overall taste effect contrib uted by glutamate is savory or meaty. • Gums. Gums provide thick ness to foods and help form gels in products such as frozen des serts, candies, salad dressings, puddings, and whipped toppings. They’re also used to keep ingre dients suspended in a food and to inhibit crystallization, among other functions. Gums are classi fied by source, such as seaweed (which includes agar, alginates, carrageenan), plant seed gums (which include pectin), fermenta tion gums (which include xan than gum), plant exudates Gettysburg, PA 717-624-3331 Mt. Pleasant, PA 724-542-7930 Phillipsburg, NJ 908-454-7900 (which include gum arable) and cellulose derivatives. • Preservatives. Because of preservatives, bread does not grow mold overnight, but re mains fresh for several days. Pre servatives can be antimicrobials, antioxidants, or both. As antioxi dants, they keep foods from be coming rancid and turning brown. As antimicrobials, they inhibit the growth of bacteria, yeast and mold. Food additives are very tightly regulated. The Food Additives Amendment to the U.S. Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, imple mented in 1958, assigned proof Hand Washing Helps Keep Germs Out! Children in child care are ex posed to colds, coughs, and flu. Frequent hand washing by chil dren and adults can help keep children from getting sick. Par ents, make sure this is happening at your child’s child care and at home. Wash hands: • Before handling and serving food. Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 3,2001-B9 for additive safety to the food in dustry. The degree of safety test ing necessarily became very high because the industry had to prove additives were safe before they could be used. Consumers can easily see which food additives are present in a food by reading the ingredi ent statement on the product label the FDA requires all ad ditives and ingredients to be list ed. Food additives play many important roles in our food sup ply, helping to ensure that the wide array of foods we eat are safe, wholesome and tasty. • Before and after eating. • After wiping noses mouths. • Before and after diapering routines. • Before and after bathroom routines. • After handling pets. • After playing outdoors. Help wage the ware on germs! Share this article with your child care provider.
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