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


 * Modern food sold in the supermarket is not more than a cocktail of chemicals. **

What is food??? Actually, food is any substance or material eaten or drunk to provide nutritional support for the body or for pleasure. It usually consists of plant or animal origin, that contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals, and is ingested and assimilated by an organism to produce energy, stimulate growth, and maintain life.

Nowadays, more and more different types, appearances, textures, taste and categories of food are appeared. This is to fulfill the human needs. In my opinion, modern foods sold in the supermarket may be contain different types of chemicals but all the chemicals used in the food have their significant and benefits to the food. Therefore, we cannot say that modern foods sold in the supermarket are no more than a cocktail of chemicals.

Human wants the foods to stay longer so chemicals called food preservatives are added to increase the shelf life of the foods. The food preservatives used have two types, that is, natural and synthetic. Natural substances such as salt, sugar, vinegar, alcohol, and diatomaceous earth are also used as traditional preservatives. Certain processes such as freezing, pickling, smoking and salting can also be used to preserve food.

Chemical food preservatives are also being used for quite some time now. They seem to be the best and the most effective for a longer shelf life and are generally fool proof for the preservation purpose. Examples of chemical food preservatives are:
 * Benzoates (such as sodium benzoate, benzoic acid)
 * Nitrites (such as sodium nitrite)
 * Sulphites (such as sulphur dioxide)
 * Sorbates (such as sodium sorbate, potassium sorbate

Artificial preservatives are the chemical substances that stop of delayed the growth of bacteria, spoilage and its discoloration. These artificial preservatives can be added to the food or sprayed on the food. Types of Artificial Preservatives Food:
 * Antimicrobial agents
 * Antioxidants
 * Chelating agent

In antimicrobial comes the Benzoates, Sodium benzoate, Sorbates and Nitrites. Antioxidants include the Sulfites, Vitamin E, Vitamin C and Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT). Chelating agent has the Disodium ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), Polyphosphates and Citric acid.

Although some the food preservatives used are chemicals but they have an important role in foods. As a conclusion, we need to use the food preservatives in suitable amount and cannot be overuse. This is because if excess use in food preservatives will bring negative consequences to us.