What's in Your Food? A Dictionary of Food Additives

52 Pages·1988·2.202 MB·English

by  MORRISON, Peter

WHAT'SIN
YOUR FOOD?
Ahandy
pocket guide
to all those
additives listed
on the packet
ACheckpointBookNo.H43
PublishedbyCircleBooks
38HansCrescent,
LondonSW1OLZ
BrownKnight&Truscott Ltd
Tonbridge
KentTN92TS
1988© InternationalThomson PublishingLtd
WHAT'S IN
YOUR FOOD?
ADictionary of FoodAdditives
byPeterMorrison
What's inyour food? 2
Index of names 6
Numberdictionary 8
What's in Your Food?
The 1980's are the time of mass-produced
and high technology foods. A wide variety
of additives are used during production.
They flavour, colour, preserve our food,
stick ittogether or separate it, moisten it or
dry itout. Doyou knowwhat you're eating?
Now is your chance to find out. This book
will help you to understand what is going
into the food that you and your family eat
every day.
Some of the additives can be harmful to
your health or can cause an allergic reac
tion. Children, in particular, are sensitive to
additives. The Hyperactive Children's Sup
port Group has highlighted those additives
which should be avoided if your child is
sensitive andthese are marked clearly with
ex.
It is virtually impossible to avoid add
itives altogether, but this book will help you
to avoid those which are potentially harm
ful. Whenever possible it is preferable to
provide your family with fresh fruit,
vegetables, meat and poultry in order to
reduce their daily consumption of additives
as muchaspossible.
Armed with this useful pocket guide you
will be able to make up your own mind
about what you eat. Don't leave it to the
manufacturer to decide for you!
2
Looking at the Label
When you look at a food label the in
gredients often look completely in
comprehensible, just a list of numbers and
meaningless words. What do the numbers
mean? The majority of additives have now
been given a number. Those with an E in
front are part of the EEC Code. Tofind out
what the numbers mean, simply look them
upinthis dictionary ofadditives.
What do the names mean? Ifan additive
isidentified on a labelby itsname, notbya
number then look on pages 6-7 to find the
number, then look it up in the dictionary of
additives. e.g. Pectin is E440(a). There are
many hundreds of additives, so this book
concentrates on those which are most
commonly used.
What dothe terms mean? What on earth
is an emulsifier or an antioxidant? In the
following two pages explanations are given
so you can understand what happens to
your food before it finally arrives on the su
permarket shelf. Finally,don't forget that if
a product says "No artificial additives or
flavourings", it means that the food does
not contain any chemical additives; but it
can contain additives made from natural
products. Beware - one should not as
sume that as something is natural it is
good for you.
3
Anti-Caking Agents
These prevent food particles from sticking
together, so food producers can sell
products like sugar and salt which do not
become lumpy.
Antioxidants
As fats and oils come into contact with
oxygen they oxidise and go rancid. Anti
oxidants drastically slow down this
process.
Curing Agents
Curing agents are usedtopreserve meat.
Colouring
Colourings can be either chemical or
natural and are added to replace colouring
lost.duringprocessing, or to create an illu
sion e.g. lemon foods are supposed to be
moreconvincing ifabright yellow colour.
Emulsifiers
These are used to bind together oil and
water intoan emulsion.
Flavourings
These are added to replace flavour lost
during processing, or to make a flavour out
of nothing! They do not have to be specifi
cally listed;labelswilljust say 'flavouring'.
Flavour Enhancers
These increase natural and artificial
flavours bysensitising thetaste buds.
4
Gelling Agent
These make food gel, and so increase the
substance offoods.
Modified Starch
Food labels will list modified starch but will
not tell you anything more. Starch which
has been 'modified' orchanged in a chemi
cal process is used in food processing to
fill out and bulk foods. Beware, these star
ches are fullofcalories.
Preservatives
Preservatives slow down the process of
food decay by inhibiting the growth of
mould, bacteria and fungi.
Sequestrants
Industrial food production involves the use
of metal machines, asa result, small traces
of metal end up inthe food. Insome cases
this might cause the food to deteriorate
rapidly. Sequestrants bond with the traces
of metal and prevent them from reacting
with the food.
Stabilisers
These act to keep oil and water together
and to control their natural tendency to
separate.
Thickening Agents
These are used to bulk out food and make
itlookmoresolid.
5
Index of names
AceticAcid E260 CalciumAlginate E404
Acid Brilliant Green E142 Calcium Carbonate E170
AdipicAcid 355 Calcium Chloride 509
Agar E406 Calcium Citrate E333
AlginicAcid E400 Calcium Hydrogen
Aluminium Calcium Sulphite E227
Silicate 556 Calcium Hydroxide 526
Aluminium Sodium Calcium Lactate E327
Silicate 554 Calcium Malate 352
Amaranth E123 Calcium Silicate 552
Ammonium Calcium Sorbate E203
Alginate E403 Calcium Sulphite E226
Ammonium Caramel E150
Carbonate 503 Carbon Black E153
Ammonium Ferric Carbon Dioxide E290
Citrate 381 Carmoisine E122
Ammonium CarnaubaWax 903
Hydroxide 527 Carob BeanGum E410
Ammonium Carrageenan E407
Phosphatides 442 CitricAcid E330
Annatto E160(b) Cochineal E120
Beeswax 901 CornSugar Gum E415
BeetrootRed E162 Cream ofTartar E336
BenzoicAcid E210 Curcumin E100
Bixin E160(b) Erythrosine E127
Black PN E151 FumaricAcid 297
Brilliant BlueFCF 133 Glycerol E422
Brown FK 154 Green S E142
Brown HT 155 Guanosine5 627
Butylated Guar Gum E412
Hydroxyanisole E320 GumArabic E414
Butylated Hexamine E239
Hydroxytoluene E321 IndigoCarmine E132
Calcium-L- Inosine 5 631
ascorbate E302 Karaya Gum 416
CalciumAcetate E263 L-ascorbic Acid E300
6
L-GlutamicAcid 620 Potassium Nitrite E249
LacticAcid E270 PotassiumSorbate E202
Lecithin E322 PropionicAcid E280
Locust BeanGum E410 QuinolineYellow E104
Magnesium Red2G 128
Carbonate 504 Riboflavin E101
Magnesium Silicon Dioxide 551
Silicate 553(a) SodiumAlginate E401
MalicAcid 296 SodiumAluminium
Maltol 636 Phosphate 541
Mannitol E421 Sodium Benzoate E211
MetatartaricAcid 353 Sodium Bicarbonate 500
Monosodium Sodium Carbonate 500
Glutamate 621 Sodium Citrate E331
Niacin 375 Sodium Hydrogen
NicotinicAcid 375 Sulphite E222
Nisin 234 Sodium Hydroxide 524
Norbixin E160(b) Sodium
Orthophosphoric L-ascorbate E301
Acid E338 Sodium Lactate E325
Patent BlueV E131 Sodium Malate 350
Pectin E440(a) Sodium Nitrate E251
PhosphoricAcid E338 Sodium Nitrite E250
Pigment Rubine E180 Sodium Sorbate E201
Ponceau 4R E124 Sodium Sulphite E221
PotassiumAcetate E261 SorbicAcid E200
PotassiumAlginate E402 Sorbitol E420
Potassium SulphurDioxide E220
Carbonate 501 SunsetYellowFCF E110
Potassium Chloride 508 Talc 553(b)
Potassium TartaricAcid E334
Dihydrogen Tartrazine E102
Citrate E332 Tocopherols E306
Potassium Tragacanth E413
Hydroxide 525 Triammonium
Potassium Lactate E326 Citrate 380
Potassium Malate 351 Xanthum Gum E415
Potassium Nitrate E252 Yellow2G 107
7
Number dictionary
E100 Curcumin
This isanorange-yellow colouring which is
an extract from the turmeric root. There
are no confirmed health risks but ex
periments in animals suggest a need for
further investigation.
May be found in: 8readcrumbs,
banana yoghurt, sweets, savoury rice,
frozen pastry, fish fingers, curry powder,
processed cheese, icecream.
E101 Riboflavin (Vitamin 82)
This is a natural orange-yellow colouring.
It is a vitamin which is present in a variety
of foods e.g., cereals, milk, meat, green
vegetables and is involved in energy
release fromcarbohydrate foods.
May be found in: Sauces, processed
cheese, added to foods as a vitamin sup
plement e.g. breakfast cereal.
E102 Tartrazine X
This is a yellow colouring which is widely
used. Itis an artificially-produced chemical
dye. Tartrazine can produce allergic
symptoms such as skin irritation, cold
symptoms, blurring ofthevision and hyper
activity. As a member of the azo group of
dyes it can cause a reaction in those
8