Historic Background of Food Additiv

Historic Background of Food Additives
Since the dawn of man, our species searches for better ways tofeed itself, by developing more efficient methods of hunting, animal/vegetable domestication, food preservation by physical methods,and finally, by adding molecules to food in order to enhanceflavors or to preserve it.Back in the 1800s, food additives were intentionally used forfood adulteration. This practice was widespread due to the centralizationof food processing, decline of personal accountability,birth of analytical chemistry, and inadequate governmental regulation.The consequence of such uncontrolled tampering of foodled to a serious worldwide problem with concern about food qualityrising gradually. In 1920, the availability of effective methodsfor food analysis, together with regulatory pressures, started to reducethe significance of this problem. In the middle of the 20thcentury, processed food became an important part of human nutrition,and legal chemical additives became increasingly prevalentin them, fostering tight regulation, which still remains controversialdue to the high number of studies concerning food additivesthat produce conflicting results and different interpretations bygovernments (Fennema 1987).
Today, more than 2500 additives are intentionally added to foodin order to keep certain properties or to extend shelf life, whilemany others were banned throughout the years, some of themat a global level and others only in specific countries (Branenand others 2001). The definition of food additive has changedduring time, being today defined as “any substance not normallyconsumed as a food by itself and not normally used as a typicalingredient of the food, whether or not it has nutritive value, the intentionaladdition of which to food for a technological (includingorganoleptic) purpose in the manufacture, processing, preparation,treatment, packing, packaging, transport or holding of suchfood results, or may be reasonably expected to result (directly orindirectly), in it or its by-products becoming a component of orotherwise affecting the characteristics of such foods. The termdoesnot include contaminants or substances added to food for maintainingor improving nutritional qualities” (Codex Alimentarius).This definition was proposed in 1995 by the joint panel, comprisedby the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of theUnited Nations and by the World Health Organization (WHO)and being revised during all the subsequent years, with the lastrevision in 2012. Today, the Codex Alimentarius gathers all theinformation regarding standards, codes of practice, and guidelinesabout food and its processing. Worldwide, the 2 major regulatorsof food additives are the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the UnitedStates.
Types of Additives
Types of AdditivesWithin the EU, food additives are divided into 26 functionalclasses, depending on their function in food: sweeteners,colorants, “preservatives,” antioxidants, carriers, acids, acidityregulators, anticaking agents, antifoaming agents, bulking agents,emulsifiers, emulsifying salts, firming agents, flavor enhancers,foaming agents, gelling agents, glazing agents, humectants, modifiedstarches, packaging gases, propellants, raising agents, sequestrants,stabilizers, thickeners, and flour treatment agents (CouncilRegulation (EC) 1333/2008). The American approach of foodadditives narrows down the number of classes and allows additivesto be mentioned in 2 or more classes. According to the FDA, thereare more than 3000 food additives allowed in the United States,which are distributed into 6 groups: Preservatives, nutritionaladditives, coloring agents, flavoring agents, texturizing agents,and miscellaneous agents (Figure 1). The preservatives group isdivided into 3 subgroups, although some additives may servemore than 1 function in foods: antimicrobials, antioxidants, andantibrowning agents. Within the flavoring agents group, there are3 subgroups: the sweeteners, the natural or synthetic flavors, andthe flavor enhancers. The texturizing agents comprise emulsifiersand stabilizers. Finally, the miscellaneous agents are composed ofmany classes: chelating agents, enzymes, antifoaming agents, surfacefinishing agents, catalysts, solvents, lubricants, and propellants(Branen and others 2001). Despite the various classes of additivesand the different classifications used, they can be divided in 4fundamental groups with regard to their origin and manufacture:natural additives (obtained directly from animals or plants); similarto natural additives (produced synthetically imitating natural ones);modified from natural (natural additives that are then modifiedchemically); and finally artificial additives (synthetic compounds).
The authors recognize that it would be impossible to totallyreview the more than 3000 food additives, thus the review will befocused on the most important ones, either based on their highconsumption or due to the important functional properties theycan provide to foods in which they are incorporated.
Problems, Opportunities, and Future Perspectives
It is estimated that the world’s population will reach 8 billion by2025. This increase represents a challenge for the whole planet.Larger amounts of food must be produced to feed the increasingpopulation, especially in underdeveloped countries. Technologyimproves all of the food processing stages, in particular the technologiescontributing to food preservation, such as mild-heatprocessing,modified atmosphere packaging, vacuum packaging,and refrigeration. New technologies like pulsed-light, high pressure,pulsed-electric, and magnetic fields, high-pressure processing,ionizing radiation, and ultraviolet radiation are actively beinginvestigated in order to overcome their specific limitations andcosts. Although these technologies are effective in reducing thenumber of additives in food, these molecules cannot be completelyremoved in the high-demanding worldwide food market.Therefore, it is imperative to find viable solutions for the futurefood concern (Lado and Yousef 2002; Tajkarimi and others 2010).
In the 21st century, where information has no boundaries andcan reach a high number of people in seconds, and with theliteracy of citizens rising, the demand for clarification regardingfood additives has grown considerably. In an inverse proportion,the trust in food safety agencies has declined, and citizens aroundthe world are worried about the food they consume. Varioussurveys indicate that some consumers are alarmed about foodadditives and do not feel well informed regarding their role infood. The population does not know the difference between somegroups of additives and is prone to be misled by marketing effortsthat request “clean labels,” which are labels that do not displaynames of compounds that resemble chemical or synthetic ones.
Another troubling fact is the consumption of highly transformedfood that is growing considerably due to the exodus of populationsfrom the countryside to large cities and a way of life away fromselfsufficiency.Home preparation of food is now substituted by the“ready to consume” meal that just needs to be heated. The highconsumption of this type of food imposes 2 important reflections.For one, the need for better, safer, and multipurpose additives(rather than adding various different ones to the same foodstuff)and, on the other hand, the need to educate the population toon the composition of natural and highly processed foods, as wellas balanced and unbalanced diets and the necessity of additives.So far, only the schooled fraction of the population of developedcountries has become aware of these issues. Some advocates evenplead for a shift to a reduced consumption of highly processedfoods (Shim and others 2011; Varela and Fiszman 2013).The concern about misinformation regarding food additives isalso fueled by the blurred separation between natural and syntheticadditives. Today, additives are usually added to repair damage tofood during its harvesting, storage, and processing, by correctingthe final foods’ colors, texture, moisture, and flavors. The actualtruth is that, in the global food market, of 30 billion dollars, 40%of all additives are used to keep the taste of the food products, 30%employed for texture, 5% for food appearance, 20% for aiding theprocessing phase, and 5% is added to fight bacterial spoilage andrapid deterioration.The core studies regarding food additive safety in the UnitedStates have been unaltered for 40 y, it is now time to review theseprotocols and prepare new ones, incorporating new technologies,new knowledge, and leaving space for wider, transversal, andundoubted debates within the scientific community and by stakeholders.The EU in its review of food additives until 2020 is takingthese premises into account to gather a transversal understandingof both the scientific community and legislators. Although difficult,a unique European law regarding food additives could be thebest solution to bring confidence to the legislating bodies as well assafety to the food that is consumed by the more than 500 millionpeople living within the EU. This mission is quite challenging dueto the difficulty to obtain concrete, sound, and irrefutable resultsregarding human exposure to additives when taking into accountthe different diets, lifestyles, ages, and genetic predispositions ofcitizens (Bateman and others 2004; Connolly and others 2010;Mepham 2011; Lofstedt 2013).
The future of food additives is of grave importance for mankind;it is related to the well being of the entire human population. Foodadditives will definitely change throughout the next decades, eithertending to natural extracts that need to be thoroughly studiedfor interactions or to the synthetic chemical ones that will continueto scare the consumers. Future technologies regarding foodadditives have been studied and aim to reduce impact on health,manufacture cos