Food Additives: Types and Concerns

Processed and mass-produced foods frequently incorporate food additives, which are substances added primarily for technical purposes. These additives serve various functions, such as improving safety, extending shelf life, or altering the sensory characteristics of food. Throughout history, substances like salt, spices, and sulfites have been employed to safeguard and enhance the flavor of foods.

It's noteworthy that many additives utilized by the food industry occur naturally in everyday foods. For example, MSG is found in higher quantities naturally in parmesan cheese, sardines, and tomatoes than when added as a food supplement.

Food additives can be broadly divided into three groups based on their functions: flavoring agents, enzyme preparations, and other additives that fulfill roles such as preservation, coloring, and sweetening.

Some of the most common food additives include monosodium glutamate (MSG), artificial food coloring, sodium nitrite, guar gum, and high-fructose corn syrup. These additives play a pivotal role in the development of modern products like low-calorie options, snacks, and ready-to-eat convenience foods.

Nevertheless, specific individuals may encounter issues with particular additives. Examples include flavor enhancers like monosodium glutamate (MSG) 621, food colorings such as tartrazine 102, yellow 2G107, sunset yellow FCF110, and cochineal 120. Additionally, preservatives like benzoates (210, 211, 212, 213), nitrates (249, 250, 251, 252), and sulphites (220, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 228), as well as the artificial sweetener aspartame (951), may cause problems for certain individuals.

In conclusion, while food additives play a crucial role in the production and preservation of a diverse range of food products, it's essential to be mindful of potential sensitivities or reactions that some individuals may experience with specific additives.

Food Additives: Types and Concerns

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Food fortification

Food fortification is defined as the practice of deliberately increasing the content of essential micronutrients – that is to say, vitamins and minerals (including trace elements) – in a food so as to improve the nutritional quality of the food supply and to provide a public health benefit with minimal risk to health.

Fortification commonly uses staple foods as vehicles to deliver micronutrients generally lacking or not contained in sufficient concentration in the diet of a population. It has been implemented for a long period of time in industrialized countries to achieve the successful control of vitamin A and D deficiencies, several B vitamins (thiamine, riboflavin, and niacin), as well as iodine and iron.

Types of fortification
*Mass fortification
Mass fortification is the term used to describe the addition of micronutrients to foods commonly consumed by the general public (such as cereals and condiments), which is instigated, mandated and regulated by the government sector.
*Market-driven fortification
The term “market-driven fortification” is applied to situations whereby a food manufacturer takes a business-oriented initiative to add specific amounts of one or more micronutrients to processed foods.
*Household and community fortification

Food fortification includes biofortification, microbial biofortification and synthetic biology; commercial and industrial fortification, and home fortification.

The term biofortification refers to the increase of the micronutrient concentration in the edible part of the plant and can be achieved both by using fertilizers and by stimulating the absorption of these minerals in the plant.

Microbial biofortification involves using probiotic bacteria (mostly lactic acid bacteria), which ferment to produce β -carotene either in the foods we eat or directly in the human intestine.
Food fortification

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Raising agents for baking

A raising agent or leavening agent is any one of a number of substances used in dough and batters that causes a foaming action that lightens and softens the finished product. Formation of carbon dioxide is induced by chemical agents reacting with moisture, heat, acidity, or other triggers.

Types of leavening agents:
Mechanical agents 
•Water
•Atmosphere

 Biological 
•Yeast

Chemical 
•Baking powder
•Baking soda
•Ammonium bicarbonate

Chemical leavening involves the action of an acid on bicarbonate to release carbon dioxide gas for aeration of a dough or batter during mixing and baking. The aeration provides a light, porous cell structure, fine grain, and a texture with desirable appearance along with palatability to baked goods.

The main three chemical leaveners used in baking are:
•Baking Powder
•Baking Soda
•Ammonium Carbonate

Baking powder 
•Baking powder is a mixture of bread soda and an acid
•When moistened by eggs or milk carbon dioxide is produced
•The carbon dioxide expands and rises when heated, raising the dough

All raising agents (leaveners) work on the same principal, be it Chemical, Mechanical or Natural. Gasses expand, push up against a structure, you get rise, which is fixed by the heat of the oven. It is by using ingredients and baking techniques in the correct manner which ensures success baking.
Raising agents for baking

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About cocoa powder

The word cacao comes from the word kakawa from language of the Olmecs people and was already used around 1000 BC.

Cacao is deliciously rich and bitter. Raw cacao beans can be ground and used in lieu of cocoa powder or chocolate.

Cocoa powder is a valuable flavoring material in baked goods and desserts as well as the basis of hot chocolate drinks. It is made from fermented , roasted and ground cacao beans.

Like chocolate, cocoa powder is made from cocoa beans that have processed into a paste known as chocolate liquor. Using a hydraulic press, produces remove between 50 and 75 percent of the cocoa butter from the chocolate liquor and then pulverize the remaining solids to make cocoa.

The commercial powder varies in color and flavor, dependent upon the quality the beans used, the degree of roasting and precise method.

The good quality cocoa powder has the following characteristics:
*PH: 5.6 to 7,.1 dependent upon whether or not the cocoa beans were processed with alkali.
*Fat: about 24% and not less than 22%
*Moisture: 3-4%

After preliminary treatments such as fermentation process described and drying, beans ready for further processing are composed of 87% cotyledon containing only 4-5% water, 12% shell containing 8-10% water and 1 % germ.
About cocoa powder

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