ABSTRACT
Food additives are substances added to foods for many purposes including preserving flavor or improving taste, texture, and appearance. The term food additive applies broadly to chemicals, both natural and synthetic, that are added to food, either intentionally or indirectly, to facilitate processing, extend shelf life, improve or maintain nutritional value, or enhance the food’s organoleptic qualities. Among the undeclared processing aids used in the food industry are antifoaming and release agents, extraction aids, bleaching compounds, and anti-clumping, filtering, and clarifying agents. Some of the food additives also have serious problems with respect to their halal status. For the food industry to serve the halal market properly, it is very important that they determine the halal status of these additives. The food additives that affect nutritional quality are primarily vitamins and minerals. In some foods, these may be added to enrich the food or replace nutrients that may have been lost during processing.
