Effects of Treatment with Food Additives on Nutrients

Abstract

Food additives1 are substances other than basic foodstuffs which are put into foods during production, processing, and packaging. Additives are used in commercial processing not only to reduce microbial hazards, but also to reduce chemical and physical spoilage and to aid processing. Processing additives may be used as anticaking agents, chemical preservatives, emulsifiers, and stabilizers, to modify or improve flavor, texture, or colors, and they also may include nutrients added to enhance nutritional value. The number of food additives greatly exceeds the number of nutrients. Since the function of food additives is so varied, the total effect on nutrients often is not known. If one makes a list of all the food additives (e.g., the list in Title 21, 121.101 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, published in 1973, CFR, and Sections 172,173,181,182, 184, and 186, published in 1981, CFR) and a list of all the nutrients, it becomes evident that potential interactions have hardly been explored.