Food Additives

Food additives are chemicals that keep foods fresh or enhance their colour, flavour or texture. They are substances primarily added to processed foods, or other foods produced on an industrial scale, for technical purposes, e.g. to improve safety, increase the amount of time a food can be stored, or modify sensory properties of food. They are substances not normally consumed as a food by themselves and not normally used as typical ingredients in foods. Most minimally processed and unprocessed foods do not contain food additives. Food additives are assessed for potential harmful effects on human health before they are approved for use.

Food additives are used for a variety of reasons, such as preservation, colouring and sweetening. They are added when food is prepared, packaged, transported, or stored, and they eventually become a component of the food.

Some people are sensitive to particular food additives and may have reactions like hives or diarrhoea. This doesn’t mean that all foods containing additives need to be automatically treated with suspicion. All foods are made up of chemicals and food additives are not always ‘less safe’ than naturally occuring chemicals.

Many people view food additives as a major food threat. However, in terms of health risk, food additives would come in at the end of the line, after food-borne microorganisms (like salmonella), inappropriate hygiene and eating habits, environmental contaminants and naturally occurring toxins.