Food Additives

A food additive is a broader term and can be briefly defined as any substance other than the basic foodstuff added intentionally in very small amounts during any aspect of production, processing, storage or packaging. Food additives are not present naturally in any food product. Additives are not considered ‘Nutritive’ and contain little or no nutrition. Different countries have different rules and regulations pertaining to which food additives can be used for specific propose. These laws recommend the amounts of food additives to be added to certain foods. Many novel product categories such as low-calorie, RTD beverages, and ready-to-eat convenience foods, instant mixes would not be possible without food additives in this generation.

Role of Food Additives

Food additives serve various functions in contributing to a foods color, flavor, overall acceptance, improving shelf life, and on a whole enhance the acceptability of a food product. Their functions in food can be summarized as below

• Maintaining product consistency
• Improving or maintaining nutritive value
• Maintaining palatability and wholesomeness of the food
• Improving flavour or imparting desired colour to the food product
• Providing leavening or controlling acidity / alkalinity especially in bakery and beverage industry.
  
  

Direct and Indirect additives in food sector
On a wider note, food additives can be classified as

Direct additives - these are added to any food product to serve a specific purpose.
Examples include: synthetic colors, flavor enhancers, sweetening agents

Indirect additives - as the name indicates these become a part of the food in minor amounts due to storage, handling, or packaging. Additives used in raw materials come in contact with the food in a different way. This effect can be described as carry over principle. For example, antioxidants added to edible oil can be found in products like chips prepared with this oil.

Comprehensive List of Parameters Analysed by Eurofins include

• Antioxidants: these are capable in inhibiting the oxidative degradation of food caused by reacting with free oxygen and reactive oxygen species. The commonly added antioxidants include butylated hydroxy anisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), propyl gallate, phytic acid, tert-butylhydroquinone, ethoxyquin
• Colorants: may be natural or synthetic including carmine, amaranth, lemon yellow, sunset yellow, Allura red, brilliant blue, erythrosine
• Sweeteners: artificial sweeteners mostly added in bakery and confectionary industry include saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfame, stevia
• Color retention agents: sodium nitrite, nitrate mostly to retain color of meat products
• Bleaching agents: sulfur dioxide, sulfite mostly applicable for cereal and grain industry, flours
• Preservatives: class 1 (salt, spices, vinegar), class 2 (sulphites, nitrates and nitrites, benzoic acid, sorbic acid).
• Emulsifying and stabilizing agents: agar, alginates, dextrin, sorbitol, pectin, cellulose, monoglycerides or diglycerides of fatty acids.
• Anti-caking agents: carbonates of calcium, magnesium, phosphates of calcium, magnesium; silicates, or stearates
• Sequestrants: citric acid, phosphoric acid, tartaric acid, ethylene diamine tetra acetate (EDTA).
• Buffering agents: acetic acid, calcium oxide, ammonium phosphate monobasic, ammonium carbonate (bread improver in flour), citric acid, malic acid, DL lactic acid, L (+) tartaric acid (acidulants).
• Anti-foaming agents: dimethyl Poly siloxane in edible oils and fats for deep-fat frying.
• Leavening Agents: cream of tartar (rapid release), sodium aluminium phosphate or sulphate (slow release), anhydrous monocalcium phosphate (for an intermediate speed of release).
• Flour treatment agents: benzoyl peroxide
• Flavoring agents: spicy agents, Mono sodium glutamate
• Plasticizers: phthalates
• Antiputrefactive: Antiputrefactive can extend shelf life of food, including sorbic acid, potassium sorbate, benzoic acid, sodium benzoate,
• Illegal additives: Sodium formaldehyde sulfoxylate, melamine, pericarpium papaveris, Sudan red, basic orange, acid orange, malachite green, crystal violet, talcum powder, boric acid, borax, clenbuterol hydrochloride, diethylstilbesterol, β-lactamase, sodium thiocyanate, leather hydrolyzed proteins, rhodamine B, auramine, rongalit, dimethyl fumarate, and many more
• Other additives include thickener, defoamers, carbon monoxide, coagulators, raising agents etc.,
  
  

International Standards and Regulations for Safe Use of Additives in Food

The currently preferred approach to safety assessment of food additives is described in a publication entitled Toxicological Principles for the Safety Assessment of Direct Food Additives and Color Additives Used in Food, popularly known as “the Redbook” originally published in 1982 (US FDA, 1982).

Prestigious WHO (World Health Organization) along with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), is responsible for assessing the risks to human health from food additives. Risk assessment of food additives are conducted by an independent, international expert scientific group named as the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA).

Whether food additives are natural or synthetic, they must undergo JECFA assessment and are found not to impose any health risk to consumers when used. Soon after a food additive has been declared to be safe for use by JECFA, maximum use levels will be established in the Codex General Standard for Food Additives; thereafter, national food regulations need to be implemented permitting the actual use of a food additive.

JECFA performs toxicological tests for additives that include acute, short term and long-term studies. These studies determine the mechanism of food additives absorption, distribution, and excretion in the body and any possible harmful effects of the additive or from its by-products at certain exposure levels. JECFA also involves in establishing the ADI (acceptable daily intake) of food additives for safe consumption.

Eurofins Food Testing Capabilities

• Eurofins is a leading global provider of food and feed testing and analytical services. We can support you by comprehensive food additive analysis, in compliance with local, national, and international regulations. We offer fast, accurate, sensitive quality testing of food additives using the standardized protocols and updated technologies such as gas chromatography (GC) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with mass spectrometry (MS) or nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR).
• In our laboratory, we perform expertise food additives testing in accordance with FSSAI regulations and other international standards.
• We perform label verification according to, FSSAI and EU (E-numbering)
• Detection of illegal and undeclared substances
• Stability studies
• Organoleptic evaluation
• We have advanced equipment to perform food antioxidant test and food preservative analysis.
  
  

Eurofins Advantage

• The Eurofins Group offers a unique portfolio of analysis and testing services complemented by quality management, consultancy, and training for the food, feed, and seed. For their clients, Eurofins is the ideal partner providing accurate, reliable, rapid testing services along the whole supply chain.
• We have Competence Centres with state-of-the-art equipment such as high-resolution GC, HPLCs, GCMSMS, FTIR, ELISA, HR-MS, GC-MS, HPLC, LC-MS/MS, ICP-MS, Real-time PCR, and NMR systems
• Participation in industry associations and regulatory bodies allowing early advice on potential food scares and legal obligations
• Expert advice - testing schemes, on-site-check for hygiene and allergens, labelling advice, and traceability
• We have local contact with a global network