Food Additives

Food additives are substances added to food to preserve flavor or improve its taste and appearance. Some additives have been used for centuries; for example, preserving food by pickling (with vinegar), salting, as with bacon, preserving sweets or using sulfur dioxide as in some wines. With the advent of processed foods in the second half of the 20th century, many more additives have been introduced, of both natural and artificial origin. Regulation and Categories of Food Additives

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates and approves all additives that are used in our food supply. The FDA breaks them into three categories. “Indirect Food Additives” include packaging materials such as paper, plastic, cardboard and glue that come into contact with food.iv “Direct Food Additives” include preservatives, nutritional supplements, flavors and texturizers that are added to food. “Color Additives” are used to alter or enhance the color of a food product.

The table below shows a list of food additive types:

Caffeine and other GRAS (generally recognized as safe) additives such as sugar and salt are not required to go through the regulation process. Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) is a United States of America Food and Drug Administration (FDA) designation that a chemical or substance added to food is considered safe by experts, and so is exempted from the usual Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) food additive tolerance requirements

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