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.
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• 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.
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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
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(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.
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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.