ABSTRACT
Numerous compounds found in small amounts in food products have been indicated to inuence substantially the state of human health. The detection of harmful compounds in food plays an important role in the food industry. The determination of toxicity of these substances enables to establish the potential adverse effects on heath and consumer safety. At the turn of many years, the food industry has changed in terms of number of compounds used for production and as a consequence quality of products. Foods used at early times were mostly without additives, hence they also had a short period for consumption. Nowadays, food without additives is virtually nonexistent. It is extremely important to increase the nutritional value of foods (vitamins, mineral compounds, amino acids, and their derivatives), the sensory properties (pigments, avoring components, or avor enhancers), and the shelf life of foods (antimicrobial additives and buffer additives). Additives or their degradation products generally remain in food. Although, in some cases, they can be removed during processing it is generally assumed that applied doses of food additives and their degradation products should be nontoxic. This also applies to both acute and chronic toxicity and is extremely important for compounds with teratogenic, mutagenic, or carcinogenic effects.
