Food Additives Use in Romania (2009)

Abstract

Food additives are diverse substances not consumed as food, that are not specific food ingredients, have or not a nutritional value, but are intentionally added to food stuff in technological purposes. In 2009, as in the previous years, the use of main food additives was monitored, in the frame of the National Program II (the monitoring of the determinant health factors from the work and life environment). Data from the Territorial Public Health Authorities were gathered and analyzed at the Public Health Regional Center of Targu Mures. A number of 181 food producers were checked out, originating in 33 Romanian counties. The total number of foodstuff evaluated for additives content was 1541 , from which 82,28% meat and meat products, 12,52% soft drinks, 5% diary products and 0,19% fruit and vegetable preserves. After the label and the conformity certificate control we concluded that most of the time the additives on label are identical with those used in the recipe. Only in 2,16 % of the cases (1,58% of the soft drinks, 0,46% of the meat products and 0,12% of the diary products) this criterion was not respected. The most used additives were: monosodium glutamate and sodium nitrite for meat products, carrageen and polyphosphates for diary products, organic acids and pectin for fruit preserves and citric acid and sodium benzoate for soft drinks. Some unauthorized or interdicted additives were also identified: sucralose, baker yeast glycan, propylene glycol, propyl gallate and butyl hidroxyanisol (1). Taking in account the Regulation nr. 1333/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Food Additives Council, article number 27 (“The monitoring of food additive intake”)(2), the conclusion is that in the following years the additive evaluation has to be carried out continuously and completed with an evaluation of the actual food additive intake .