ABSTRACT
Food additives have been used for centuries to improve food quality. Smoke, alcohols, and spices have been extensively used for the last 10,000 years as additives for food preservation. The abovementioned additives as well as a restricted number of additives comprised the main food additives until the Industrial Revolution. The Industrial Revolution brought so many changes in foods and asked for improved quality as well as quantity of the manufactured foods. For this reason many chemical substances were developed either for preservation or for color and/or odor enhancement. In the 1960s, over 2500 different chemical substances were used toward food manufacturing. In the United States over 2500 different additives were used to manufacture over 15,000 different foods. The desire for nutritional, functional, and tasty foods is an ongoing process. An additive is used to improve the shape, color, aroma, and extend the shelf life of a food. The following categories of additives are described:
Coloring agents (Tables 13.1 through 13.3)• Acids (Table 13.5)• Aromatic substances (Table 13.6)• Toxic metals (Tables 13.9 and 13.10)• Biocides• Preservatives (Table 13.11)• Emulsi ers (Table 13.13)• Leavening agents (Table 13.14)•
There has been an intense skepticism regarding the safe use of additives in foods. In the 1960s and 1970s the increase of toxicological information caused an increase in the knowledge of possible
risks derived from the consumption of foods containing additives. It was observed that the use of food additives has toxicological effects in humans. It is for this reason that in this chapter the limits of food additives use as well as pesticide residues’ control are mentioned. It is well known that there is a plethora of risks derived from additives, but also there are bene ts from their use in food production. Additives will continue to play a signi cant role in food production since consumers continue to desire healthier, tastier, and occasionally functional foods and as the population of earth continues to increase.
