Lesson Structure

  • Introduction and Classification of Food Additives
  • Food colorants
  • Flavouring agents
  • Sweeteners
  • emulsifiers and stabilizer and anti-oxidant and preservatives

 

  • Introduction and Classification of Food Additives

How will cooked pulse without salt or spices and kheer without sugar taste? Certainly, all of us will dislike it barring all those who may not be using these for some medical reasons. Can the food cooked and kept in open be consumed even after a day? We are well aware that it would get spoilt. What makes a common soft drink different from soda water? – Some flavoured substances besides a sweetener. Many more such questions as raised above and their answers make the content of the present unit.

You would agree that in today’s busy life preserved cooked food has become a part and parcel of life for many of us as it saves our precious time and effort. The shelf life of these packed foods is enhanced by adding certain substances. Salt and sugar are two of the very common substances used for this purpose. Substances like salt, sugar and many others are not components of natural foods and are added to foods during its processing for a variety of reasons including taste, preservation, flavour, texture, etc. The substances which are added to natural foods from outside for protection against food spoilage, flavour and colour enhancement, texture improvement etc. are called food additives. Their usage is not a recent development. Salt has been used to preserve meat and fish since ancient times. Spices have been employed since earliest recorded history to flavour and preserve foods. In other words, food additives seem to be a necessary part of modern society. Though the use of food additives is well-accepted practice; there have been a number of concerns regarding the potential short-term and long-term risks of consuming these substances. These are to be used according to the regulation ascertained by Government agencies. In this unit, you will read about various types of food additives in terms of their properties, functions and importance in food industry along with the permitted additives as per the Food Adulteration Act and Rules (1954) prevalent in our country.

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