atiq's+modern+foods

Modern foods sold in the supermarket are no more than a cocktail of chemicals.

I agree with this statement. Majority of food contains salt and sugar. Salt and sugar functions as an additives. Without them, food will be tasteless. I found an article that tell me more about salt sugar and other additives. The pleasantness of a food is not come from the food but from the additive.

Any substance introduced into food is called an additive. Some are natural substances, others are synthetic substances created in laboratories. Additives are used to solve problem. Sometimes an additive solves more than one problem. For example, adding salt to pizza dough imparts flavour and helps reduce elasticity. Sugar adds sweetness and helps preserve the colour and flavour of food.

Technically, pesticides, fertilizers, veterinary drugs, and other chemicals added to agricultural products are not additives. However, traces of these chemicals find their way into the food marketed to consumers and so become additives. This is of concern because some of the chemicals used by farmers are toxic.

Some additives are used to guard against food spoilage. Salt and sugar are the oldest and most common preserving additives. Propionates keep bake goods from being spoiled by mold. Sodium benzoate and sorbic acid retard mold growth on cheese, margarine, and pancake syrup. Antioxidants such as citric acid, butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) react with oxygen on the surface of foods, thereby retarding rancidity in oil-containing foods.

Flavourings comprise the largest group of additives. They are used to bring out, replace, or mask the natural flavour of foods. Sugar and salt are the major food additives used as flavourings in the United States. Herbs and spices also are used widely. Other common flavouring agents include malic acid, used in fruit-flavoured drinks, candy, and ice-tea mixes, monosodium glutamate (MSG), and amino acid widely used in prepared foods.

Many synthetic additives have been developed to meet consumer demand for various flavours. Fpr instance, there are not enough vanilla beans in the world to flavour all the vanilla ice cream consumed each year. Many foods contain synthetic vanillin rather than real vanilla. Similarly, there are meat-flavoured sauces that do not contain any real meat, strawberry-flavoured confections that do not contain real strawberries, and lemon-flavoured drinks with no lemon.

Foods look often affects how well they sell. Orange growers use a dye to give their fruit an attractive orange colour. Bleaching agents are used to make flour white, and colouring agents such as carotene give colour to butter, margarine, mustard, candies, beverages, and many other foods. Some additives are used to prevent discoloration of processed foods. Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) prevents canned and frozen foods from discolouring. Sulphur dioxide inhibits discoloration in fruit juice concentrates and dried fruits.

Humectants such as glycerine retain moisture in marshmallows, shredded coconut and candy. Anticaking agents such as calcium phosphate, calcium silicate, and silicon dioxide absorb moisture, thereby preventing lumping and caking. They are used to keep baking powder, confectioner’s sugar, soft drink mixes, and other powdered foods free-flowing.

Emulsifiers, stabilizers, and thickeners impart or maintain the desired texture, consistency, and thickness in foods. For instance, lecithin is used as an emulsifier in mayonnaise to prevent it from separating into two layers, pectin is added to fruits or fruit juices to produce jams and jellies, vegetable gums are added to ice cream to hold it to together and prevent ice crystals.

Some additives are used to fortify foods with vitamins and minerals that are poorly supplied in the average diet. Iron is added to breads and cereals, iodine to salt, and vitamin D to milk. Processors also replace valuable vitamins and minerals that are lost in the production of certain foods. For example, vitamin E is added to white flour and white rice to replace that lost during processing.

Many of the convenience foods available today would not be possible without additives. Ready-mix cakes, frozen dinners, dehydrated potatoes, and powdered drinks are examples of easy-to-prepare foods that exist because of emulsifiers, stabilizers, and other additives.

Sometimes, additives are used to decrease production costs. Thickening agents substitute for cream in ice cream, lecithin is used instead of cocoa butter in chocolate candies, vanillin is used instead of vanilla, and soy protein is used instead of meat.

More than 3000 food additives are being used by food producers. Many of these chemicals have not been tested or studied for their ability to cause death problems. The same is true for hundreds of pesticides. The burden of proof as to the hazards of an additive or pesticide has generally been in those who object to the use of these chemicals. The chemicals can remain on the market until it is shown that they are hazardous.

The U.S. government has banned more than two dozen additives. For example, agene(nitrogen trichloride), a flour-bleaching agent, was banned in 1949 after dogs that ate bread made from agene-treated flour suffered seizures. In the 1960s, an additive used to make beer foamier caused heart problems in heavy beer drinkers. Cyclamate, an artificial sweetener, was banned in 1970 following studies suggesting that it caused bladder cancer. Later evidence failed to confirm a direct link to the disease, but the FDA found that the sweetener might increase the potency of other cancer-causing agents in food. Although adverse reactions to food additives are generally rare, the FDA banned six sulphide preservatives that were used in the processing of fresh produce, after the deaths of at least 12 people from allergic reactions. Some states have their own regulations prohibiting foods from containing certain farm chemicals and additives.

Many other additives and pesticides remain on the market even though their safety is of concern. For example, sodium nitrate is known to combine with natural chemicals in the stomach to produce cancer-causing nitrosamines and nitrosamides. MSG causes headaches and other symptoms in many people, and has been shown to cause brain damage in mice.

At one time, the U.S. government did not call for every additive to be identified on product’s label. A list of ingredients may have included such vague terms as “flavourings,” “colourings,” or “spices.” Today, the FDA requires that additives be listed by name, and that nutritional information be spelled out on the packaging for almost all foods. Still, consumers have other ways of identifying ingredients. For example, a label that says “strawberry ice cream” means that the product contains strawberries or all-natural strawberry flavourings. “Strawberry-flavoured ice cream” contains natural strawberry flavour plus other natural flavours plus other natural flavours. If the label reads “artificially flavoured,” it means that the product contains only artificial flavourings or a combination of artificial flavourings or a combination of artificial and natural flavours.