ABSTRACT
Food additives are any substances usually added to foods during production, preparation, processing, packaging, and transportation. Certain food additives are used either to replace vitamins and minerals lost in processing or to add nutrients to foods that may not have initially contained that nutrient. Natural food additives are primarily derived from plants and animals. Petroleum-based chemical compounds are the basic sources of synthetic food additives. Nature-identical additives are factory-made copies of substances that occur naturally. Indirect/unintentional food additives may imply a short- or long-term risk to human health, and measures must be taken to minimize contaminants in foodstuffs. The intentional food additives must be considered safe in order to be used in food products. Food legislation in many countries requires clear labeling of food additives in the list of ingredients. In certain cases, macro- and/or micronutrients or flavor additives are incorporated in edible films to improve the nutritional values of food products.
