Food Additives Flashcards
(91 cards)
FDA Food Additive Definition
any substance added to food for physical or technical effects
- aid in preservation and processing
- improve the quality factors of appearance, flavor, nutritional value, and texture
Legal Food Additive Definition
“any substance with the intended use of which results or may reasonably by expected to result directly or indirectly in its becoming a component or otherwise affecting the characteristics of any food”
What are additives not allowed to be used for?
disguising poor quality
NRC Food Additives Definition
“A substance or a mixture of substances, OTHER THAN A BASIC FOODSTUFF, that is present in a food as a result of an aspect of production, processing, storage, or packaging.”
Food additives intentionally or purposely added to foods
direct food additives
food additives incidentally added to food in very small amounts
indirect food additives
Which department regulates the inclusion of additives to food products subject to interstate commerce or import
FDA
In order to gain approval for the use of an additive, manufacturers must petition the FDA and:
- provide evidence of HARMLESSNESS of an additive at the intended level of use
- Provide data from at least 2 years of the feedings of at least two animals, male and female (dogs and rats)
- Prove safety, usually by utilizing an outside toxicology laboratory for testing
What must manufacturers show about additive?
- safe
- accomplish intended effect
- reasonable certainty of no harm from additive under its PROPOSED USE
If additive wins approval by FDA, how can it be used?
only for use AT SPECIFIC LEVELS IN SPECIFIC PRODUCTS
What does the Delaney Clause state?
- no additive shown to cause cancer in man/lab animals, regardless of dose, may be used in foods
- proposed additives are not acceptable for use in food supply if they have been documented to be carcinogenic by any appropriate test
- required that all food labels must list additives, such as certifiable color additives by the common or usual name
- labels contain valuable information that allows people who may have food or food additive sensitivities to select appropriate food
Nutrition Labeling Education Act (NLEA)
a dye, pigment, or other substance, which is capable of imparting color when added
color additive
used to impart color but does not migrate to food in amounts that will be apparent to the naked eye
colorant
Database of everything added to food in the United States
EAFUS
Generally recognized as safe
GRAS
come into contact with food as part of packaging, holding, or processing but are not intended to be added directly
indirect food additives
Function of preservatives
- increase the shelf life of their products by controlling and preventing deterioration
- may be used to preserve/combat microbial/enzymatic deterioration
- the use of additives at the point of manufacture or processing CANNOT STOP ALL FOODBORNE ILLNESS
Function of Nutritional Additives
- enrich, fortify, restore what is lost in processing
- Ex. vitamin D to fortify milk
- Ex. antioxidants to prevent oxidation
- Ex. Thiamin to enrich grains
4 Types of food additives
- Preservatives
- Nutritional Additives
- Sensory Agents
- Processing Agents
Function of Iodine as a Food Additive
- first food additive in USA
- nutritional function: to treat and prevent goiter (common to the Great Lakes and Pacific Northwest regions of USA)
Major additives used in processing
- Anticaking agents and free-flow agents
- Antimicrobials
- Antioxidants
- Bleaching and Maturing Agents
- Bulking Agents
- Coloring Agents
- Curing Agents
- Dough Conditioners/Dough Improvers
- Edible Films
- Emulsifiers
- Enzymes
- Fat Replacers
- Firming Agents
- Flavoring Agents
- Fumigants and Humectants
- Irradiation and Lubricants
- Leavening Agents
- Nutrient Supplements
- pH Control Substances
- Preservatives
- Pre- and Pro-biotics
- Propellants
- Sequestrants
- Stabilizers and Thickeners
- Surface-Active Agents
- Sweeteners and Alternative Sweeteners
Function of Anticaking Agents/Free-Flow Agents
- added to powdered food
- inhibit/prevent lumping/caking
- Ex. silicates: aluminum calcium silicate, calcium silicate, silicon dioxide, tricalcium phosphate
Function of Antimicrobials
- inhibit the growth of pathogenic or spoilage organisms
- Ex. salt, organic acid, nitrites and nitrates (meat), sulfites and sulfur dioxide (wine and juice)