ABSTRACT
This chapter provides state-of-the-art overviews on foodborne diseases caused by food additives in relation to their etiology, biology, epidemiology, clinical presentation, pathogenesis, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. Food additives are natural or synthetic substances that are added to foods or used in food preparation, with the goal to maintain or improve the safety, freshness, nutritional value, texture, aroma, taste, appearance, packaging, and shelf life of foods and food products. Depending on how they get into the foods, food additives are separated into direct or indirect categories. Whereas direct food additives are added to foods for specific purposes and are usually identified on the product labels, indirect food additives enter the foods as part of packaging or of storage in materials that have close contact with foods and may not be identified on the product labels. Based on their primary functions, food additives are divided into colors, preservatives, antioxidants, thickeners/emulsifiers/stabilizers, anticaking agents, flavor enhancers, antibiotics, miscellaneous additives, and additional chemicals.
