Modern+Food+Sold+In+Supermarket+Are+Not+More+Than+A+Cocktail+Of+Chemicals

//By Mohamad Iswandi Bin Ishak//
 * Modern Food Sold In The Supermarket Are No More Than A Cocktail Of Chemicals. **

Food is very important to everybody to continue the life. As a food technologies, I disagree with the statement that “modern food sold in the supermarket are no more than a cocktail of chemicals ". Nowadays, we are hardly to find any food products that sold in the supermarket are free from the chemicals. The question that we are need to know is why food industry use the chemical in the food products? Why and why?

Food products that sold in supermarket are added with food additives. Food additive is any substance that added in the production, processing, treatment, packaging, transportation or storage of food. The function of food additives that used in food products are to improve or maintain the nutritional quality of a food, to improve the keeping quality of a food and thus reduce wastage, t o provide ingredients for consumers with specific nutritional requirements, to aid the manufacturing process and to maintain or improve the consistency, texture and other functions. For example, ascorbyl palmitate is use in margerine as antioxidants that function to retard oxidation of oils and fats which would result in rancidity. The formation of toxic products when oxidation process occur will loss of nutritional value in margerine such as unsaturated fatty acids, vitamin A and vitamin E. Thus, the usage of food additive will control or prevent the oxidation process to occur.

Besides that, colour additive and flavouring agent that use in food products also made from certain chemicals. Colour additive and flavouring agent are very important to food products because it influence to the consumers. Imagine food without colour and flavour. Colour additive that use in food products is function to compensate for colour lost during processing and to impart colour to the food products. For example, carotenes are use in cheese and margerine. Aftificial colour additive that want to use in food products need to get permission before use. For example, colour Yellow No6.

The important things that I want to say is the chemicals that use in food products are save to use and it get permission from the government. The food industry that want to produce any food products need to follow the Food Act 1983 and Food Regulation 1985 to ensure that the amount of chemical substance that use in food is not over the limit. So that, the food products is save to eat by the consumers.

Thank You.