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By: Ikedi Ani-okoye.

Additives introduction

For many years now there has been growing unease over the possible excessive use o food additives. More and more people are reading food labels and selecting those foods edith the shortest list of added chemicals. Foods that are leigh in food additives tend to be the 'convenience' or snack type and by avoiding such foods you reduce the number of additives you consume.

What are food additives?

If asked Eor examples of food additives, most people will usuaUy mention preservatives, colourings and artificial Flavourings; a few skill recognize the terms anti-oxidants, emulsifiers and flavour enhancers. But what exactly are all these chemicals and why are they added to our food? Preservatives and anti-oxidant~ extend a food's 'shelf-life' - they enable foods to be distributed to supermarkets, stored at home and eaten weeks, or even months after preparation.

Nitrates and nitrates inhibit the growth of Micro--organisms which may render food unpalatable or poisonous or both. Stabilizers ensure that the texture of foods, especially sauces, is not altered during distribution and storage, and that they remain attractive. Emulsifiers help prevent sauces and other processed foods from separating.

Colourings and flavourings are not essential but they are used to add appeal to foods. Without colours and flavours some of today)s convenience foods would simply not be produced. The colour of food often affects the may we perceive flavour. Experiments shoes that if a raspberry-flavoured food is coloured yellow, the majority of people neill think they are eating a lemon-flavoured food.

Synthetic versus natural additives

Most people believe chat chemicals added to food - whether they preserve, colour or flavour the food - are chemicals that have been manufactured in the laboratory, but often this is not the case. Some additives originate in the laboratory, but others are extracted from plants.

Carotene, a yellow colouring agent, can be produced in the laboratory or extracted From Eoods such as carrots and kari green vegetables. Lecithin is an cmulsifler found in many food, notably eggs. (We rely upon the emulsifying qualities when combining oil and egg yolk in the making of mayonnaise.') Lecithin is extracted from foods such as seaweed and used in commercially prepared foods. The label will show 'Lecithin' in the ingredients panel, and, strictly speaking, it is an additive.

However, the fact that an additive is produced from a natural food substance is no guarantee that it is healthy. tucleotides are an essential part of the nucleus of every living cell, the basis of the genetic material which is handed on from generation to generation in all living things. These nucleo-tides are extracted from organisms such as yeasts and used as flavourings. Being a natural substance it could be regarded as safe. There is, however, a theory that vast quantities of nucleotides, absorbed over a period of many years, may be the cause of urie acid kidney stones, gout and some cases of arthritis.

CONCLUSION

It is reassuring to know that the body can deal with small quantities of practically any chemical Without harm and it is worth remembering that practically any substance can be dangerous to our health if we eat enough ofit. Nutmeg, infused too Freely, can cause hallucinations. Inadequately cooked red kidney beans contain an alkaloid which, in very large doses, can poison you.

But we go on eating reasonable amounts of salt, nutmeg and kidney beans without glaring their contents a thought. And mostly they do us nothing but good. So, whether something is good or bad for us depends largely on how much ofit wc cat. What may be Ene in small doses may be anything but in larger amounts.