In this article the FDA answers the question of what are food and color additives which leads to them discussing the main roles they play in our food. They begin the article by stating that the purpose of them writing about these products is that consumers worry about the long & complicated names of food products that are found on food labels. The FDA goes on to say, that even in simple foods, such as strawberry's, there are complicated compounds that give the aforementioned strawberry its color and flavor.
Food additives are any substance that are added to food that may directly or indirectly change the characteristics of food.
Color additives are any dye, pigment or substance that when applied to foods, drugs, or cosmetics add a color to the substance.
Some reasons the FDA give for adding these food and color additives are:
- To maintain/improve freshness and safety- these additives prevent the food from early spoiling and prevent harmful bacteria/mold from growing on these foods.
- To improve/maintain nutritional value- they use vitamins and minerals(fiber) to fortify and enhance food products that may have lost their nutritional value during processing. This process has reduce malnutrition in the U.S. and throughout the world.
- Improve taste, texture and appearance- the taste of foods are enhanced by spices, natural/artificial flavors, and sweeteners. Emulsifiers, stabilizers, and thickeners gives food their texture (pudding is and example).
I guess the addition of these additives are like a double edge sword. On one hand, they are added to maintain the nutritional value, but at the expense of exposing consumers to potentially harmful chemicals.
ReplyDeleteI second that^
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of the project idea where as a class we might be able to work with the FDA help ban the color additive found in soda. I would really like to become more involved with that project and see it happen in New York City. I think Alana has mentioned that it has been banned from California.
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