Food additives are substances added to food to preserve flavor or enhance taste, appearance, or other sensory qualities. Some additives have been used for centuries as part of an effort to preserve food, for example vinegar (pickling), salt (salting), smoke (smoking), sugar (crystallization), etc. This allows for longer-lasting foods such as bacon, sweets or wines. With the advent of processed foods in the second half of the twentieth century, many additives have been introduced, of both natural and artificial origin. Food additives also include substances that may be introduced to food indirectly in the manufacturing process, through packaging, or during storage or transport.
Starch or amylum is a polymeric carbohydrate consisting of numerous glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by most green plants for energy storage. Worldwide, it is the most common carbohydrate in human diets, and is contained in large amounts in staple foods such as wheat, potatoes, maize (corn), rice, and cassava (manioc).
Corn starch, maize starch, or cornflour is the starch derived from corn (maize) grain. The starch is obtained from the endosperm of the kernel. Corn starch is a common food ingredient, often used to thicken sauces or soups, and to make corn syrup and other sugars. Corn starch is versatile, easily modified, and finds many uses in industry such as adhesives, in paper products, as an anti-sticking agent, and textile manufacturing. It has medical uses as well, such as to supply glucose for people with glycogen storage disease.
Dextrins are a group of low-molecular-weight carbohydrates produced by the hydrolysis of starch and glycogen. Dextrins are mixtures of polymers of D-glucose units linked by α-(1→4) or α-(1→6) glycosidic bonds.
Brown rice (malt) syrup, also known as rice syrup or rice malt, is a sweetener which is rich in compounds categorized as sugars and is derived by steeping cooked rice starch with saccharifying enzymes to break down the starches, followed by straining off the liquid and reducing it by evaporative heating until the desired consistency is reached. The enzymes used in the saccharification step are supplied by an addition of sprouted barley grains to the rice starch or by adding bacterial- or fungal-derived purified enzyme isolates.
Maleic anhydride is an organic compound with the formula C2H2(CO)2O. It is the acid anhydride of maleic acid. It is a colorless or white solid with an acrid odor. It is produced industrially on a large scale for applications in coatings and polymers.
A thickening agent or thickener is a substance which can increase the viscosity of a liquid without substantially changing its other properties. Edible thickeners are commonly used to thicken sauces, soups, and puddings without altering their taste; thickeners are also used in paints, inks, explosives, and cosmetics.
Phosphated distarch phosphate, is a type of chemically modified starch. It can be derived from wheat starch, tapioca starch, potato starch or many other botanical sources of starch. It is produced by replacing the hydrogen bonds between starch chains by stronger, covalent phosphate bonds that are more permanent. It is manufactured by treating starch with sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP) and sodium trimetaphosphate (STMP), or phosphoric chloride (POCl3). Phosphorylated cross-linked starches is a category of modified food starches within the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations. Starches treated with STMP and STPP must not exceed 0.4 percent phosphorus as residual phosphate.
Modified starch, also called starch derivatives, are prepared by physically, enzymatically, or chemically treating native starch to change its properties. Modified starches are used in practically all starch applications, such as in food products as a thickening agent, stabilizer or emulsifier; in pharmaceuticals as a disintegrant; or as binder in coated paper. They are also used in many other applications.
A superabsorbent polymer (SAP) (also called slush powder) is a water-absorbing hydrophilic homopolymers or copolymers that can absorb and retain extremely large amounts of a liquid relative to its own mass.
Sucrose acetoisobutyrate (SAIB) is an emulsifier and has E number E444. In the United States, SAIB is categorized as generally recognized as safe (GRAS) as a food additive in cocktail mixers, beer, malt beverages, or wine coolers and is a potential replacement for brominated vegetable oil.
Hydroxypropyl distarch phosphate (HDP) is a modified resistant starch. It is currently used as a food additive. It is approved for use in the European Union, the United States, Australia, Taiwan, and New Zealand.
Paper chemicals designate a group of chemicals that are used for paper manufacturing, or modify the properties of paper. These chemicals can be used to alter the paper in many ways, including changing its color and brightness, or by increasing its strength and resistance to water. The chemicals can be defined on basis of their usage in the process.
Alkenyl succinic anhydrides (ASA) are derivatives of succinic anhydrides. One H of the succinic anhydride ring is replaced with an iso-alkenyl chain (C14 to C22). ASA's are colorless and usually viscous liquids. They are widely used, especially in surface sizing of paper, paperboard, and cardboard, as well as in the hydrophobicization of cellulose fibers. Products treated with it show reduced penetration of aqueous media, such as inks or drinks (like milk or fruit juices).
Octenylsuccinic acid is a manufactured ingredient in foods. It is used to treat gum arabic, and also in waxy maize production and for rice starch production.
Acetylated distarch phosphate, E1414 in the E number scheme of food additives, is a modified starch. These are not absorbed intact by the gut, but are significantly hydrolysed by intestinal enzymes and then fermented by intestinal microbiota.
Acetylated starch, E1420 in the E number scheme of food additives, is a modified starch. These are not absorbed intact by the gut, but are significantly hydrolysed by intestinal enzymes and then fermented by intestinal microbiota.
Hydroxypropyl starch is a type of modified starch used as a food additive. I has the E number E1440. Hydroxyl propyl starch is not absorbed intact by the gut, but are significantly hydrolyzed by intestinal enzymes and then fermented by intestinal microbiota.
Starch sodium octenyl succinate, E1450 in the E number scheme of food additives, is a modified starch. These are not absorbed intact by the gut, but are significantly hydrolysed by intestinal enzymes and then fermented by intestinal microbiota.
