In today's society, people are increasingly emphasizing the importance of food safety, which is directly related to human health and life safety. Unsafe food may contain harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites, or chemicals that can cause over 200 different diseases, ranging from mild diarrhea to severe cancer. Every year, approximately 600 million people worldwide fall ill due to consuming contaminated food, with 420000 deaths as a result.
Food additives are an important part of food production. This article will introduce how to select high-quality food additives to produce safe and green food during the food production process.
1. The significance of food safety
In modern society, with the acceleration of the pace of life and the increasing complexity of the food supply chain, ensuring food safety has become an urgent and arduous task.
Food safety is directly related to the public's physical health. Unsafe food may contain harmful substances such as bacteria, viruses, pesticide residues, heavy metals, etc. Once ingested, these substances can cause various diseases and even endanger life. Therefore, ensuring food safety is the foundation for maintaining public health.
Food safety is also of great significance for social stability and economic development. Once food safety issues erupt, they often trigger public panic and dissatisfaction, which in turn affects social stability. Meanwhile, food safety issues may also cause significant economic losses to the food industry, undermine market trust, and hinder the sustainable development of the industry. Therefore, strengthening food safety supervision and ensuring food quality are important guarantees for maintaining social stability and promoting economic development.
Food safety is also related to the image and reputation of a country. In today's globalized world, the food safety situation of a country often becomes the focus of international attention. A country with frequent food safety issues finds it difficult to establish a responsible and trustworthy image internationally. Therefore, strengthening food safety management and improving food safety levels are of great significance for enhancing national image and strengthening international competitiveness.
2. Classification of food additives
Food additives refer to substances added during the production, processing, and packaging of food to improve food quality, maintain food safety, and facilitate consumer use. According to different classification criteria, food additives can be classified into multiple types. The following are the main classifications of food additives:
Classified by Source
- Natural food additives: These additives come from nature, such as plant extracts, animal extracts, or microbial fermentation products. They are usually considered safer, healthier, and have certain nutritional value.
- Artificially synthesized food additives: These additives are synthesized through chemical methods and have specific functional properties. They usually have high stability and effectiveness, but there may be certain safety risks.
Classified by Function
- Preservatives: such as benzoic acid and its salts, sorbic acid and its salts, propionic acid and its salts, parabens, etc., mainly function to inhibit the growth and reproduction of microorganisms and extend the shelf life of food.
- Antioxidants: such as vitamin C, vitamin E, tea polyphenols, etc., can prevent or delay food oxidation and spoilage, improve food stability, and extend storage life.
- Colorants (pigments): such as carmine, amaranth, lemon yellow, etc., used to improve the color of food and enhance appetite.
- Thickening agents and stabilizers: such as carrageenan, agar, pectin, methylcellulose, etc., can improve the texture and taste of food, increase its viscosity and consistency, and maintain its stability.
- Seasoning agents: including acidic agents (such as citric acid, malic acid, etc.), sweeteners (such as sorbitol, xylitol, sodium saccharin, etc.), used to adjust and improve the flavor of food.
- Leavening agent: such as sodium bicarbonate, ammonium bicarbonate, etc., used to make dough rise and form a dense porous structure, giving the product a fluffy, soft or crispy characteristic.
- Emulsifier: such as mono fatty acid glycerides, sucrose fatty acid esters, etc., used to improve the physical properties of various components in food, enhance the stability and taste of food.
Nutritional fortifiers: used to enhance the nutritional value of food, such as adding vitamins, minerals, etc.
- Other: including acidity regulators, anti caking agents, defoamers, bleaching agents, flour processing agents, coating agents, moisture retention agents, enzyme preparations, flavor enhancers, fragrances, etc.
3. Methods for selecting high-quality food additives
Before purchasing food additives, it is necessary to first clarify the purpose of the purchase and understand the functions and uses of the required additives. There are various types of food additives, including preservatives, antioxidants, colorants, thickeners, seasonings, and more. Each additive has its specific function and application scope. Therefore, when selecting food additives, it is necessary to choose based on actual needs and the characteristics of food production processes.
- Check manufacturer qualifications: When purchasing food additives, priority should be given to manufacturers with formal production qualifications and good reputation. You can confirm the production qualifications and legality of the manufacturer by checking their business license, tax registration certificate, organization code certificate, and national industrial production license.
- Understanding brand reputation: In the market, some well-known food additives often have higher quality and better reputation. Therefore, high-quality food additive brands can be selected by understanding the brand's history, scale, research and development capabilities, and user evaluations.
- Check the product ingredient list: When purchasing food additives, carefully review the product ingredient list to understand the main ingredients and types of additives in the product. Prefer additives from natural sources, such as natural pigments, natural essence, etc. These additives are usually relatively safe and more easily accepted by consumers in products.
- Understanding product quality standards: The quality standards of food additives are an important factor affecting their quality. When making a purchase, you can learn about the product's execution standards, testing methods, and quality levels to evaluate its quality level.
- Safety assessment: The safety of food additives is the primary consideration factor. It should be ensured that the selected food additives have undergone sufficient safety assessments and comply with relevant national and regional regulations and standards. Meanwhile, it should be noted that different populations may have varying tolerance to food additives, and sensitive individuals should try to avoid or reduce their intake as much as possible.
- Stability testing: The stability of food additives is also an important factor affecting their quality. When purchasing, it is possible to understand the stability testing methods and results of the product to ensure its stable performance during production and use.
- Reference user reviews and feedback: Before purchasing food additives, you can refer to the reviews and feedback of other users to understand the actual effectiveness and user experience of the product. This helps to better understand the quality and performance of the product, thereby making more informed purchasing decisions.
4. Factors to consider when purchasing food additives
- Regulatory compliance: Food additives must comply with national and regional regulations and standards, including production permits, variety permits, quality standards, etc. Ensure that the purchased products have been reviewed and approved by relevant departments and have legal production qualifications.
- Toxicity assessment: The toxicity of food additives is an important indicator for evaluating their safety. When purchasing, it is necessary to understand the toxicity assessment results of additives to ensure that they are harmless to the human body within the dosage range.
- Allergens and Sensitive Substances: For certain populations, certain food additives may cause allergic or sensitive reactions. When purchasing, it is important to pay attention to whether the product contains potential allergens or sensitive substances to avoid health risks to specific populations. Clear purpose: Food additives have multiple functions, such as anti-corrosion, antioxidant, coloring, seasoning, etc. When purchasing, the required functional types should be clearly defined based on actual needs to ensure that the selected product can achieve the expected effect.
- Effect evaluation: Understand the effectiveness evaluation results of food additives, including stability, persistence, and impact on food quality. This helps ensure that the selected products meet production or processing needs and enhance the overall quality of the food
- Product quality: When purchasing food additives, attention should be paid to indicators such as purity, impurity content, and stability of the product. High quality products usually have higher purity and lower impurity content, which can better enhance their functionality.
- Storage conditions: Understand the storage conditions for food additives, including temperature, humidity, lighting, etc. This helps ensure that the product remains stable during storage, avoiding spoilage or failure.
- Supplier Qualification: Choosing suppliers with good reputation and legal qualifications can ensure the reliable source and guaranteed quality of the purchased food additives.
- Technical support and services: High quality suppliers typically provide comprehensive technical support and services, including product consultation, usage guidance, problem solving, etc. This helps to solve problems encountered during use and ensure the correct use of the product.
- Reasonable price: When purchasing food additives, the balance between product price and performance should be considered. Choosing products with high cost-effectiveness can reduce production costs while ensuring quality.
- Batch procurement: Bulk procurement based on actual needs can provide more favorable prices and better services. At the same time, it also helps to reduce inventory and transportation costs.
5. Conclusion
Food additives play a crucial role in food safety. They not only improve the quality and taste of food, meet consumers' diverse needs for food, but also play an important role in ensuring the nutritional value of food, extending shelf life, and ensuring food processing safety.
Food additives can improve the color, texture, and flavor of food, making it more appealing and increasing its acceptance and satisfaction. At the same time, they can prevent food oxidation and spoilage, reduce nutrient loss, and thus maintain and enhance the nutritional value of food. Food additives such as preservatives and antioxidants can effectively extend the shelf life of food, reduce the risk of food spoilage, help reduce food waste, and ensure the safety and stability of food during transportation, storage, and sales. Food additives also play an important role in the food processing process, such as improving the stability and processing performance of food, reducing pollution and microbial growth, and further ensuring food safety.
Therefore, in the process of food production, using high-quality food additives can not only improve the storage time of food, but also increase the nutritional content of food. Reasonable use of food additives greatly enhances the competitive advantage of the product.
