"The country is based on the people, and the people depend on food." Food is the material basis and guarantee for human survival. In recent years, my country's food industry has developed rapidly, and more and more new food varieties have continuously entered people's lives and become one of the necessities of people's lives. When talking about the food industry, we have to mention food additives. Some people think that food additives in edible food are harmful to health. In fact, this confuses the concepts of food additives and non-edible substances.


Non-edible substances refer to those that do not belong to food raw materials, do not belong to new resource foods approved for use, do not belong to medicine and food dual-use or are used as general food control substances, and are not listed in the "National Food Safety Standard Food Additive Use Standard" and Other laws and regulations allow the use of substances other than substances. In short, non-edible substances cannot be eaten. Food additives are synthetic or natural substances added to food to improve the quality of food color, aroma, taste, etc., as well as to meet the needs of antisepsis and processing technology, and are edible.




　　Eating non-edible substances will bring great harm to the human body, while eating food additives in moderation has almost no effect on the human body. After food additives enter the human body, they go through a series of decomposition, and part of them are excreted through urine metabolism without accumulation in the body; part of them are decomposed or assimilated into harmless substances such as water and carbon dioxide, which are absorbed by the human body. In the national standard, out of consideration for the safety of consumers, the use of food additives should meet five basic principles: first, it should not cause any health hazards to the human body; second, it should not cover up food spoilage; third, it should not cover up the food itself or quality defects in the process of processing or the use of food additives for the purpose of adulteration, adulteration, and counterfeiting; fourth, the nutritional value of the food itself should not be reduced; fifth, the use of food additives should be reduced as much as possible under the premise of achieving the intended purpose. quantity.


In food production and processing, food additives only account for 0.01%~0.1% of food, but they can improve the organizational state of food, adjust food flavor and nutritional structure, improve food quality and grade, improve food processing conditions, extend food shelf life, etc. It is one of the important factors for the rapid development of the modern food industry.


　　There are many kinds of food additives, each of which plays different roles in food. According to functions and uses, food additives can be divided into 23 types, namely: acidity regulators, anticaking agents, defoamers, antioxidants, bleaching agents, leavening agents, base substances in gum-based candies, coloring agents, protective agents, etc. Coloring agent, emulsifier, enzyme preparation, flavor enhancer, flour treatment agent, coating agent, moisture retaining agent, nutrition enhancer, preservative, stabilizer and coagulant, sweetener, thickener, food flavoring, food Industrial processing aids, others. Below, these food additives will be briefly introduced.


1


Acidity regulators


　　Acidity regulators are substances used to maintain or alter the pH of food. Generally, acidity regulators include citric acid, phosphoric acid, lactic acid, tartaric acid, malic acid, acetic acid, fumaric acid, adipic acid, hydrochloric acid, sodium hydroxide, calcium hydroxide, sodium carbonate, sodium citrate, sodium bicarbonate wait. Adding acidity regulators to food can produce pleasant sour taste in food, improve food flavor, help increase consumer appetite, promote digestion, and enhance nutrient absorption. At the same time, sour agents can reduce the total pH value in food, play an anti-microbial effect to a certain extent, and help to extend the shelf life of food. In addition, acidity regulators can be used to neutralize residual acidic or alkaline substances in food, such as hydrochloric acid to neutralize residual sodium hydroxide when processing canned oranges.


2


Anti-caking agents


　　Anti-caking agents are substances used to prevent granular or powdered foods from agglomerating and keeping them loose or free-flowing. Common anticaking agents include potassium ferrocyanide, calcium silicate, sodium aluminosilicate, tricalcium phosphate, silicon dioxide, magnesium stearate, etc. In daily life, some foods absorb moisture or oil from the air or the environment during processing and storage, forming agglomerates, which is not conducive to quality preservation and consumption. Adding appropriate anti-caking agents to food can effectively prevent caking. Some anti-caking agents play an adsorption role, absorbing moisture in the air that is easy to cause agglomeration to achieve anti-caking effects. For example, adding silicon dioxide to egg powder and milk powder can effectively ensure their powder state; some anti-caking agents rely on changing food characteristics To achieve the anti-caking effect, for example, adding potassium ferrocyanide to table salt can transform the regular hexahedral crystal of table salt into a star-shaped crystal, making it less likely to agglomerate.


3


Antifoaming agents


　　Defoamers are substances that reduce surface tension, inhibit foam generation, or eliminate existing foam during food processing, including emulsified silicone oil, dimethyl polysiloxane, ether defoamers, etc. During food fermentation, soybean processing and adding emulsifiers, a large amount of insoluble gas will be generated and stored in the liquid or solid of the food, and then foam will be formed. The generation of foam will greatly limit the production capacity, cause waste of raw materials and products, and even affect the quality and flavor of food. Most of the defoamers are substances with low surface tension, easy to absorb, and spread on the foam liquid film. They can reduce the surface tension of the foam, increase the gas-liquid contact surface, thin the liquid film, and eventually cause the foam to burst and achieve defoaming. the goal of.


4


Antioxidants


　　In the process of food production, processing and storage, food is in contact with oxygen, and under the catalysis of light, heat, metal ions and other factors, an oxidation reaction occurs to produce harmful substances such as acids, aldehydes, ketones, and amines. Oxidation reaction is one of the important factors leading to food spoilage. The rancidity of oil, the fading of fruit juice, the browning of canned fruit, and the denaturation of vitamins are all representative of oxidation reaction. Eating oxidatively deteriorated food will not only lose the original nutrition, but also cause great harm to the human body. In severe cases, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fever and other poisoning symptoms may occur. The addition of antioxidants can prevent oxidation reactions by blocking oxygen, blocking oxidation reaction chains, decomposing free radicals, and combining metal ions to achieve the purpose of anti-oxidation. Therefore, antioxidants are of vital importance to the food industry and consumers. Common antioxidants include tert-butyl hydroquinone, ascorbic acid, vitamin C, vitamin E, tea polyphenols, propyl gallate, phytic acid, etc.


5


Bleaching agents


　　During production and processing, food will undergo biochemical changes such as oxidation reaction, enzymatic browning, and Maillard reaction, and the food will fade, brown, and lose its original color, which not only affects the sense of food, but is also not conducive to food storage. and nutritional maintenance. Adding bleaching agent can not only destroy and inhibit the coloring factors of food, prevent browning and fading, maintain the original color of food, but also have various functions such as anti-oxidation, antisepsis and antibacterial. Common bleaching agents in food include potassium permanganate, plant activated carbon, sulfite, etc. Among them, potassium permanganate has strong oxidizing properties, which will destroy the nutrients in food, and the residue is relatively high; plant activated carbon has strong adsorption, and can be used as a decolorizing agent in white sugar production; sulfite has reducing properties, and its effective bleaching The ingredient is sulfur dioxide.


6


Raising agents


　　Leaving agent refers to the substance added during food processing, which can make the product rise to form a dense porous structure, so that the food has a soft, crisp or fluffy substance. Common leavening agents in food include sodium bicarbonate, ammonium bicarbonate, aluminum potassium sulfate, aluminum ammonium sulfate, calcium hydrogen phosphate, etc. They are mainly used in baked foods such as bread, biscuits, cakes, and fried foods such as fried dough sticks and oil cakes. Leavening agents not only make food crispy and delicious, but also facilitate the digestion and absorption of the human body, which is of great significance in convenience foods. However, the aluminum in the leavening agent will have adverse effects on the human body. Excessive consumption will cause memory loss, cause brain atrophy, dementia and other symptoms, and affect intelligence. The food industry is gradually reducing the application of aluminum potassium sulfate and aluminum ammonium sulfate, and exploring new replacement substances.


7


Basic agent substances in Gum matrix candy


　　The base substance in gum-based candy refers to the substance that gives gum-based candy air bubbles, plasticization, and chewing resistance. It is a special type of candy and is the only food that is chewed and not swallowed. In the food industry, the base agent in gum-based candies comes from natural and synthetic gums, including chicle gum, candle gum, gutta-percha, styrene-butadiene gum, butyl gum, etc., which are mainly used in the production of chewing gum and bubble gum. Wait for a long time to chew the unswallowed substance. Since the gum base must be inert and insoluble, it is not easily soluble in saliva, water and oil, and it will not be absorbed by the human body even if it is eaten by mistake, so eating food-grade gum base will not cause harm to the human body.


8


Color modifiers


　　The color and luster of food is the first visual impression of the eater, and it is the forerunner for people to distinguish the quality of food. In addition, color is also an important sign of food maturity or spoilage. If the expected color of food changes, it means that there are problems in production, processing or packaging, and the quality of food is affected. Therefore, it is often necessary to properly add coloring agents to food to enhance the color without covering up food spoilage. Coloring agents are also called food colorings. Adding coloring agents should follow the following seven principles: ① Make up for the loss of color caused by exposure to light, air, extreme temperature, humidity, and storage conditions. ②Correct the deviation of natural color. Natural pigments are unevenly distributed in food. Adding similar pigments to food can make up for this phenomenon. ③Enhance natural pigments. The color of natural pigments in food is weak, adding similar coloring agents can enhance the color. ④ Provide characteristic color to colorless food. Examples include adding red to strawberry ice cream; adding green to matcha pastries. ⑤Provide colorful color for entertainment food. ⑥Protect flavor and vitamins from sunlight. ⑦Provide an attractive appearance for nutritious and healthy food.




　　Coloring agents can be divided into fat-soluble and water-soluble according to their solubility. Fat-soluble synthetic dyes are insoluble in water, dissolve in fat tissue in the human body, are not easy to excrete, and are highly toxic to the human body. Water-soluble synthetic pigments are easy to excrete from the body and have low toxicity, so they are generally suitable for food coloring. Coloring agents can be divided into two categories: edible natural pigments and edible synthetic pigments according to their sources. Natural pigments are food pigments obtained by extraction, separation or derivation from plants, microorganisms, animals or minerals, mainly including carotenoids, anthocyanins, flavonoids and pyrroles. Natural pigments are bright in color, safe and non-toxic, and most of them have physiological activity. They have direct or indirect nutritional and health effects on the human body, and are favored by consumers. However, natural pigments have poor dyeing power, complex ingredients, high cost, and some even have peculiar smell and odor, which cannot fully meet the needs of production and processing. Therefore, food synthetic pigments need to be introduced into the food industry. Synthetic pigments have strong coloring power, low cost, and simple structure, and can be applied to a large number of needs in the food industry. In the production process of synthetic pigments, some of them are made from aromatic hydrocarbon chemical products through sulfonation, nitration, halogenation, azolation and other reactions, which are poisonous to the human body to varying degrees. Therefore, the safety of synthetic pigments has been widely recognized. dispute. After repeated toxicological experimental research and safety evaluation, the amount of synthetic pigment used is controlled within a certain range and will not cause harm to the human body. The national standard GB 2760 strictly stipulates the use limit of food-grade colorants in different foods. Therefore, adding synthetic pigments to food in accordance with GB 2760 will not cause any harm to the human body. Edible synthetic pigments include amaranth, carmine, erythrosin, tartrazine, sunset yellow, brilliant blue, titanium dioxide, lycopene, and sodium copper chlorophyll, a total of 28 substances.


9


Color fixatives


　　Color-protecting agent refers to the substance that can interact with the color-forming substances in meat and meat products, so that it will not be decomposed and damaged during food processing and preservation, and present a good color. Unlike colorants, color protectants do not impart any color by themselves. The main color-protecting agents in the food industry are sodium nitrate, potassium nitrate, sodium nitrite and potassium nitrite. Among them, the toxicity and safety of nitrite have always attracted much attention. After nitrite enters the human body, it reacts with protein to generate carcinogenic nitrosamine compounds, and long-term consumption of large amounts will endanger human health. When ingested in excess, nitrite can form methemoglobin with hemoglobin and lose the oxygen-carrying function, which can cause death, and the lethal dose is 3g. However, nitrite can enhance the special flavor of meat products, and can inhibit the proliferation and toxin production of Clostridium botulinum, Staphylococcus aureus and Lactobacillus viridans, playing an irreplaceable role in the preservation of meat products. Toxicology experiments show that when the human body ingests nitrite less than 0.06mg/kg, it will not cause harm. The national standard GB 2760 has strict regulations on the amount of nitrite added to meat products. Meat products that meet the requirements of the national standard will not cause harm to the human body, and consumers can eat them with confidence.


10


Emulsifiers


　　Emulsifiers are food additives that sharply reduce the surface tension of food colloids through adsorption, thereby promoting the stability of the entire food system. In the production and processing of food, emulsifiers are almost always used. There are often two or more immiscible systems in food, and emulsifier is a kind of surface active substance with hydrophilic group and lipophilic group. Adding emulsifier can reduce the surface tension of different systems in food, and promote the The fusion of immiscible components forms a uniform and stable dispersion system, which is very important for improving the flavor of food and prolonging the freshness period. Common emulsifiers include sucrose fatty acid esters, sodium caseinate, Span, Tween, glycerin fatty acid esters, stearyl lactylate, hydrogenated rosin glycerides, neodecanoic acid glycerides, etc.

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