Definition of Food Additives

作者：admin  点击次数：118  发布时间：2025-05-19

In 1983, the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) stipulated: "Food additives refer to substances that are not consumed as food itself, nor are they specific ingredients of food, and regardless of whether they have nutritional value, they are intentionally added to food for technical purposes during the manufacturing, processing, preparation, handling, filling, packaging, transportation or storage of food, but do not include pollutants or substances added to food to improve the nutritional value of food." This definition does not include pollutants or food nutritional enhancers.
"GB 2760-2007 Hygienic Standards for the Use of Food Additives" defines food additives as: - a chemically synthesized or natural substance added to food to improve food quality and color, aroma and taste, as well as for the needs of preservation and processing technology. Business enhancers, food flavors, base substances in gum-based candies, and processing aids for the food industry are also included.
2. Classification and coding of food additives
(-) Classification
Currently, there are more than 25,000 types of food additives in the world, and more than 2,300 types are allowed to be used directly in the United States. The US FDA recently published a list of 2,922 food additives, of which 1,755 are regulated and 1,967 are listed in the US Food Chemical Codex. Japan uses about 1,100 food additives and the EU uses 1,000 to 1,500. In order to facilitate research, production and sales, food additives should be classified according to certain criteria.
1. Classification by source
According to the source, they can be divided into two categories: natural food additives and chemically synthesized food additives.
(1) Natural food additives are natural substances extracted from the metabolites of animals, plants or microorganisms.
Most natural substances are harmless to the human body and have certain nutritional and functional properties. However, scientific research has shown that some plants themselves contain toxins, which can harm health if consumed in excess. For example, black pepper contains a carcinogen, so countries around the world also have very strict restrictions on the use of natural food additives. The stability and effect of natural food additives are not as good as those of artificial chemical food additives in many aspects. In addition, the price of natural additives is generally higher and requires a higher level of technical skills. Therefore, it is necessary to master the application process conditions of natural food additives and strictly abide by the use standards of food additives. It is not allowed to add more than the standard to achieve a certain effect.
Natural food additives are mainly organic acids in enzyme preparations, gum bases, thickeners, coating agents and acidity regulators.
(2) Chemically synthesized food additives are substances obtained by chemical means to make elements or compounds undergo synthetic reactions including oxidation, reduction, condensation, polymerization, and salt formation. Most of the food additives currently used are chemically synthesized food additives, which can be further divided into general chemically synthesized food additives and artificially synthesized natural equivalents (such as natural equivalent spices, pigments, etc.).
2. Classification by function my country's "(GB 2760--2007) Hygienic Standard for the Use of Food Additives" divides food additives into 23 categories by function: E1. Acidity regulators, E2. Anticaking agents, E3. Defoaming agents, E4. Antioxidants, E5. Whitening agents, E6. Leavening agents, E7. Basic substances in gum-based candies, E8. Colorants, E9. Color retainers, E10. Emulsifiers, E11. Preparations, E12. Flavor enhancers, E13. Flour treatment agents, E14. Coating agents, E15. Moisture retainers, E16. Nutritional enhancers, E17. Preservatives, E18. Stabilizers and coagulants, E19. Sweeteners, E20. Enhancers, E21. Food flavorings, E22. Processing aids for the food industry, E23. Others.
3. Classification according to the purpose and use of food
(1) To improve and supplement the nutritional value of food, such as nutritional enhancers.
(2) To maintain the freshness of food, such as preservatives, antioxidants, and preservatives. Experiments show that the quality of food without preservatives is obviously much worse than that of food with preservatives. For example, if food is not properly stored in a high temperature environment, it is impossible for it to not deteriorate even in a short period of time. It can be said that the unsafe factors of food without preservatives are increased. (3) To improve the sensory quality of food, such as colorants, bleaching agents, coloring agents, flavor enhancers, thickeners, emulsifiers, leavening agents, anti-caking agents and quality improvers.
(4) To facilitate processing operations, such as defoamers, coagulants, wetting agents, filter aids, adsorbents, and release agents.
(5) Edible enzyme preparations.
(6) Others. 4. According to the different classifications of safety evaluation, the Codex Committee on Food Additives (FAO/WHO) discussed the classification of food additive numbers and other issues at its 16th meeting held in The Hague, Netherlands in 1983, and divided food additives into four categories based on safety evaluation data. The first category is additives for safe use (generally recognized as safe), that is, additives that are generally considered safe and can be used according to normal needs without establishing an ADI value. The second category is Class A, which is an additive for which ECFA has established an ADI value, and it is divided into two categories. Class A1: The FAO/WHO Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (ECFA) believes that the toxicological data is clear and the ADI value has been established, or that the toxicity is limited and there is no need to specify the ADI value. Definition of ADI (acceptable daily intake): The daily per capita intake is calculated in mg/kg body weight. Class A2: JECFA has established a provisional ADI value, but the toxicological data is not perfect, and it is temporarily allowed to be used in food. The third category is Category B, which is for food additives that JECFA has conducted safety evaluations on, but due to insufficient toxicological data, no ADI value has been established or no safety evaluation has been conducted. It is divided into two categories. Category B1: JECFA has conducted an evaluation, but due to insufficient toxicological data, no ADI value has been established; Category B2: JECFA has not conducted an evaluation. The fourth category is Category C, which is for food additives that JECFA has conducted safety evaluations on, and based on toxicological data, it is considered that the use of food additives should be banned or the use of food additives should be strictly restricted. It is divided into two categories. Category C1: Based on toxicological data, JECFA believes that it is unsafe in food; Category C2: Based on toxicological data, JECFA believes that it should be strictly controlled in certain foods.