What are food additives?

[Music] maintaining a healthy sustainable diet relies on access to a variety of different foods it's important to consider the origin quality and safety of what we eat sometimes we want to have tomato sauce in winter easy ready meal after a long day at work or try yogurt with a surprising texture for that we need the help of food additives food additives usually don't have a nutritional value but they are added to food in small amounts to serve a specific function some like preservatives stop bacteria our mold from spoiling our food so that it lasts longer colors are used to make our food look more appealing [Music] emulsifiers allow water and oils to remain mixed together in an emulsion for example in mayonnaise food additives can be invented by scientists or inspired by nature for example lemons naturally contain an antioxidant called a Sakura Bukh acid also known as vitamin C when added to foods such as fruit juice jam or khand vegetables it helps preserve taste and color and allows the food to stay edible for longer since it's used in large quantities by food producers we must synthesize it from a lemon or from a lab it's the same molecule every food additive that we find in our plate has been thoroughly tested and approved by EFSA the European Food Safety Authority the safety of each additive is regularly reviewed based on the latest science there are rules on how each additive can be used they specified the type of products and the quantities that are safe for humans a small number of additives have been linked to negative health effects in sensitive individuals for example colors and hyperactivity or intolerance to sulfites in wine all approved food additives are assigned an e number you can find the e number or a name of the additive along with its functions on your food packaging be curious check your foods label [Music] you

Channel: European Food Information Council (EUFIC)

Views: 118,818

Keywords: food additives, emulsifiers, preservatives, colourants, food safety, ascorbic acid, EFSA, hyperactivity, Sulphites, E-number

Id: Hy3-QHhzvPE

Length: 2min 52sec (172 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 07 2017