Golden Spices: Why do we use food additives?
Why do we use food additives?
Food additives are substances intentionally added to food to serve certain technological functions, such as to improve taste, appearance, texture, or stability, and to prolong shelf life of foods.
Even though additives may be deemed unsafe, most artificial food additives are safe for adults and children to consume. Those that have been shown to harm human health are banned or strictly regulated by authorities.
Why types of food additives do you get?
According to Healthline, you get two different types of additives:
- Direct additives: These are added for a specific purpose, such as texture, leavening, binding, or colour. For example, aspartame is a popular artificial sweetener used to improve the taste of sodas and low calorie or sugar-free foods.
- Indirect additives: These may become part of food in trace amounts due to packaging, storage, or other handling practices. In this case, manufacturers must ensure all packaging materials are safe for use
What do food additives do?
- Food additives serve five main functions:
- Give the food a smooth and consistent texture
- Improve or preserve the nutrient value
- Maintain the wholesomeness of foods
- Control the acid-base balance of foods and provide leavening
- Provide colour and enhance flavour
Use of food additives in meat
Meat is a perishable commodity. If it is not kept properly, it may support growth of microorganisms such as bacteria, yeasts and moulds which can spoil the meat and, even worse, produce toxins. Meat is also susceptible to fat oxidation and may become rancid with off-flavour. To extend the shelf life of meat and reduce wastage, preservatives are added as antimicrobials to prevent or retard the growth of microorganisms whereas antioxidants are used to act against deterioration of meat due to oxidation.
Overall speaking, the use of food additives is justified only when such use has an advantage or serves technological function(s). More importantly, it should not present an appreciable health risk to consumers at the intended level of use and their uses should not mislead consumers.
Golden Spices, we care for your customers too
At Golden Spices it is our business to supply high quality products to all our customers, and yours. If you would like to know more about the range of herbs and spices and meat additives that we have to offer, get in touch with us at info@goldenspices.co.za
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