Common Chemicals Added to Our Food

Food is a source of all the minerals and nutrients that are continuously needed to sustain living organisms’ lives. In addition to that, chemicals play a significant role in food production in terms of food preservation. Most of the food is preserved by using chemicals on a large scale. Also, food supplements are nowadays used in replacement of protein and healthy diet. They are also a part of food chemicals. The containers in which food is kept and stored also result in chemicals in the food. Thus chemicals are majorly a part of food processing.

The chemicals we use in the food to preserve it for a long duration are known as additives to the food. These additives to food may cause harm to food and the consumers too. Food additives are generally used on the requirement in the food.

Some Common Food Chemicals

Since there are a large number of food additives which are used in the food but some of them are mentioned below as,

• Food colours

The colour of food can be enhanced and converted into another colour by using chemicals. These chemicals are commonly known as food colours which are said to be organic colours that do not cause harm to living organisms as they have been prepared from the extract of flowers and others. The food colours come in a variety of colours depending on the cooked food’s requirement.

Sometimes these food colours can cause digestion problems and allergies in the skin too.

• Artificial Sweeteners

Artificial sweeteners come in replacement of natural sweeteners like sugar. The sweeteners have a significant role in providing sweetness in the cooked up to what level is required. Artificial sweeteners can be used to provide sweeteners to the food product at an efficient cost compared to sugar.

Sucrose is a natural sweetener that is commonly known as sugar. However, Saccharine is the first-ever known artificial sweetener with zero nutritional value and no calories intake in terms of artificial sweetener. With the advancement of chemistry, Aspartame as an artificial sweetener began to be used. It has a higher nutritional value than saccharin.

The use of saccharin may also cause diseases like cancer, asthma, and others. The sweetener Aspartame is a methyl ester of phenylalanine dipeptide. It is also known as aspartic acid. The artificial sweetener has the benefit over natural sweetener in that artificial sweetener is consumed in less quantity and provides sweetness similar to natural sweetener. Artificial sweeteners increase the sweetener level.

• Food Preservatives

Our food gets spoiled when exposed in the open for an extended period. Refrigeration is not possible in all conditions. Thus with the help of food preservatives, the cooked food can be used or preserved even for a long time. Food preservatives are the chemicals added to the food, and it preserves the food and its nutritional values up to some extent. The commonly used food preservative is sodium benzoate. Alos sodium benzoate is a salt of benzoic produced when sodium hydroxide is reacted with benzoic acid.

Sodium benzoate is used as a preservative for food that is highly acidic in nature. Food preservatives inhibit the growth of microbes within the food even when they come in contact with oxygen and other gases. Sodium nitrate and sodium sulphite can also be used as food preservatives in preserving the food for an extended period and increasing the shelf life of the food.

• Artificial Flavours

The chemicals are also used as artificial flavours in food. The flavours produced by artificial flavour are prolonged for a long time, and thus the quality of food is maintained even after three or four days. 

• Supplements

The chemicals are used as supplements in the health industry. The consumption of proteins and vitamins increased chemicals in the supplements industry a lot. 

• Stabilising agents

The chemicals are also used to stabilise the food component within its mixture and prevent further spoiling and foul smells.

• Trans Fats production

Since the consumption of fats may lead to increased obesity and many diseases, too, the chemicals are used in the production of trans-fats, and they have been consumed a lot.

CONCLUSION

The food chemicals are used to preserve the food for a longer duration of time and increase the food’s shelf life. In addition, chemicals are being used to colour the food and give some artificial flavour that remains for a long time. The food preservatives are thus necessary to preserve food, and food colours are used to give colour enhancement to the cooked food. The quality and hygiene of the food have been increased with chemicals in food. On the other hand, significant utilisation and consumption of these foods can cause disease and ill health effects.