NT30903

FOOD PRESERVATION and

PROCESSING

Week 9
Chemical Preservatives
Food Additives

 Food Additive = any substance a food

producer intentionally adds to a food for a
specific purpose.
 The term food additive means any substance the
intended use of which results, or may reasonably be
expected to result, directly or indirectly in its
becoming a component or otherwise affecting the
characteristics of any food
 including any substance intended for use in
producing, manufacturing, packing, processing,
preparing, treating, packaging, transporting, or
holding food; and in including any source of
Law of Food Additives

 The law thus recognizes the following three

classes of intentional additives:
– Additives generally recognized as safe
(GRAS)
– Additives with prior approval
– Food additives
– It is now well recognized that many
components of our foods, whether natural
or added, are toxic at certain levels, but
harmless or even nutritionally essential at
lower levels
Food Additives-
Definition
 A chemical added to a particular food for a
particular reason during processing or
storage which could affect the characteristics
of the food, or become part of the food.

 it excludes food ingredients, such as:

 salt, sugar, flavourings, minerals, spices
or seasonings, vitamins, packaging
materials,
 veterinary drugs & agricultural chemicals.
 flavourings: not covered by any legislation (no
Additives can be divided into six
major categories:

1. Flavorings: There are approximately 1100 to 1400

natural and synthetic flavorings available to food
processors.
2. Stabilizers: These are used to keep products in a set
state
3. Colorings: Ninety percent are artificial and do not
contain any nutritional value
4. Sweeteners: These are designed to make the foods
more palatable
Cont..

5. Preservatives: Helps maintain freshness

and prevents spoilage that is caused by fungi,
yeast, molds and bacteria
6. Acids/Bases: Provides a tart flavor for many
fruits and is used in pickling as well as putting
the carbonation in soft drinks .
Common Food Additives
 Ascorbic Acid:
 used in cereals, cured meats & fruit
drinks as an antioxidant, colour stabilizer
or as a nutrient
 Artificial and natural flavouring:
 used in cereals, candy, gelatin, desserts,
soft drinks & many other foods as “mimic”
of natural flavours
More Additives…
 Butylated Hydroxytoluene (BHT)
 cereal, chewing gum, & potato chips as an
antioxidant. It keeps oils from going rancid-
O2 reacts preferentially with BHT/BHA rather
than oxidizing fats/oils
 Gums: (Arabic, guar, locust bean)
 used in beverages, candy, cottage cheese,
dough, drink mixes, frozen pudding, ice
cream, salad dressings as stabilizers &
thickening agents
 Sodium Benzoate:
 used in fruit juice, pickles, preserves soft
Two major groups of food
additives

– Intentional additives
 Chemical substances that are added to food for
specific purpose
 Are regulated by strict governmental controls
– Incidental additives
 We have little control over incidental or
unintentional additives
Intentional Additives
 Chemicals that are
intentionally introduced to
foods to aid in processing
 to act as preservatives
 or to improve the quality of
the food – are called
intentional additives
 Their use is strictly
regulated by national and
international laws
Intentional Additives
 In the following situations additives should not
be used:
– To disguise faulty or inferior processes
– To conceal damage, spoilage, or other inferiority
– To deceive the consumer
– If use entail substantial reduction in important
nutrients
– If the desired effect can be obtained by
economical, good manufacturing practices
– In amount greater than the minimum necessary
to achieve the desired effects
Intentional Additives
 i) complex substances such as proteins or
starches that are extracted form other foods
– For example: the use of caseinate in sausages
and prepared meats (fat distribution uniform,
enhance adhesion prop of meat, dosage: 0.2-
0.3%)
 ii) naturally occurring, well-defined chemical
compounds such as salt, phosphates, acetic acid,
and ascorbic acid
 iii) substances produced by synthesis, which may
or may not occur in nature, such as coal tar dyes,
Preservatives-1

 Preservatives are additives that inhibit

the growth of bacteria, yeasts, and
molds in foods.
 Preservatives or antimicrobial agents play an
important role in today’s supply of safe and
stable foods
 Increasing demand for convenience foods and
reasonably long shelf life of processed foods
make the use of chemical food preservatives
imperative/important
 Some of the commonly used preservatives –
such as sulfites, nitrate, and salt – have
Preservatives-2
 Additives and preservatives are used to maintain
product consistency and quality, improve or
maintain nutritional value, maintain
palatability and wholesomeness, provide
leavening, control pH, enhance flavor, or
provide color.
 The choice of antimicrobial agent has to be based on
a knowledge of the
– antimicrobial spectrum of the preservative
– the chemical and physical properties of both food and
preservative
– the conditions of storage and handling,
– the assurance of a high initial quality of the food to be
Benzoic Acid

 Benzoic acid occurs naturally in many types of

berries, plums, prunes, and some spices
 As an additive, it is used as benzoic acid or as
benzoate
 Benzoic acid is sparsely soluble in water, and
sodium benzoate is more soluble
 it is most commonly used in acidic foods since it
has stronger antibacterial and antifungal
abilities at a lower pH.
 least active against molds
 common preservative in acid or acidified foods
such as fruit juices, syrups, jams and jellies,
Parabens
 Parabens are alkyl esters of p-hydroxybenzoic
acid
 Parabens are colourless, tasteless, and
odorless (except the methyl paraben)
 They are nonvolatile and nonhygroscopic
 Their solubility in water depend on the nature
of the alkyl group (The longer the alkyl chain
length, the lower the solubility
 They differ form benzoic acid in that they
have antimicrobial activity in both acid and
alkaline pH regions
Parabens
 The antimicrobial activity in parabens is
proportional to the chain length of the alkyl group
 Parabens are more active against molds and
yeast than against bacteria, and more active
against gram-positive than gram-negative
bacteria
 Methyl and propyl parabens can be used in soft
drinks
 Combinations of parabens are often used in
applications such as fish products, flavor extracts,
and salad dressing
Sorbic Acid

 Sorbic acid is a straight-chain, trans-trans

unsaturated fatty acid, 2,4-hexadienoic acid
 As an acid, it has a low solubility in water at
room temp
 Sorbates are stable in the dry form; the are
unstable in aqueous solutions, they
decompose through oxidation
 The rate of oxidation is increased at low pH,
by increased temp, and by light exposure
 Sorbate inhibit yeast growth in a variety of
foods including wine, fruit juice, dried fruit,
cottage cheese, meat, and fish products
Sorbic Acid
 Sorbic acid and other sorbates are effective
against yeasts and molds
 Sorbates are most effective in products of low pH
including salad dressings, tomato products,
carbonated beverages, and a variety of other
foods
 Sorbates are generally used in sweetened wines or
wines that contain residual sugars to prevent
refermentation
 However when used at higher levels, they may be
detected by some people as an unpleasant flavor
 Sorbate can be degraded by certain
Sulfites
 Sulfur dioxide and sulfites have long been used
as preservatives
 Serving both as antimicrobial substance and as
antioxidant
 Examples of sulfiting agents include sulfur
dioxide, sodium sulfate, sodium and potassium
bisulfites, and metabisulfites
 The most widely used of these sulfites is
potassium metabisulfite
 The bisulfite ion (HSO3-) can react with
aldehydes, dextrins, pectic substances, proteins,
Sulfites
 Sulfur dioxide is used extensively in wine
making and in wine acetaldehyde react with
bisulfite
 Sulfurous acid inhibits molds and bacteria and
to a lesser extent yeasts and excess bisulfite
reacts with sugars
 For this reason, SO2 can be used to control
undesirable bacteria and wild yeasts in
fermentations without affecting the SO2-
tolerant cultured yeasts
Sulphiting

 help prevent enzymatic and nonenzymatic

browning
 to help preserve the color of some dried fruit
products
 In fresh fruits and vegetables, sulfites prevent
an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase (PPO)
from working properly in order to prevent
brown pigment formation.
 They are treated by dipping, spraying or
fumigation. For example, sliced fruit or sliced
potatoes are soaked in a potassium bisulfite
solution. The maximum permitted dose is 30
Sulfites

 The amount of SO2 added to foods is self-

limiting because at levels from 200 to 500
ppm the product may develop an unpleasant
off-flavor
 The acceptable daily intake (ADI) is set at 1.5
mg/kg body weight
 Because large intakes can result consumption
of wine, there have been many studies on
reducing the use of SO2 in wine making
 Although some other compounds (sorbic acid
and ascorbic acid) may partially replace SO2
Sulfites
 The use of SO2 is not permitted in foods that
contain significant quantities of thiamine,
because this vitamin is destroyed by SO2
 Because SO2 is volatile and easily lost to the
atmosphere, the residual levels may be much
lower than the amounts originally applied
Nitrates & Nitrites

 Curing salts, which produce the characteristic

colour and flavor of products such as bacon
and ham, have been used throughout history
 Curing salts have traditionally contained
nitrate and nitrite
 Both nitrates and nitrites are thought to have
antimicrobial action
 Nitrate is used in the production of Gouda
cheese to prevent gas formation by butyric
acid-forming bacteria
Nitrates & Nitrites
 The action of nitrate in meat curing is considered
to involve inhibition of toxin formation by
Clostridium botulinum, an important factor in
establishing safety of cure meat products
 Sodium nitrite also gives cured meats their
characteristic color and flavor
 Major concern about the use of nitrite was
generated by the realization that secondary
amines in foods may react to form nitrosamines.
The nitrosamines are powerful carcinogens, and
they may be mutagenic
 It appears that very small amount of nitrosamines
Nitrates & Nitrites

 There appears to be not suitable replacement for

nitrite in the production of cured meats such as
ham and bacon
 There has been dramatic declines in the residual
nitrite levels in cured meat products
 This reduction of nitrite levels by about 80
percent has been attributed to lower ingoing
nitrite, increased use of ascorbates, improved
process control, and altered formulations
Nitrates & Nitrites
 The nitrate-nitrite intake from natural sources is
much higher than that from processed foods
Hydrogen Peroxide

 Hydrogen peroxide is a strong oxidizing agent

and is also useful as a bleaching agent
 It is used for the bleaching of crude soya
lecithin
 The antimicrobial action of hydrogen peroxide
is used for the preservation of cheese milk
 Hydrogen peroxide decomposes slowly into
water and oxygen
– This process is accelerated by increased
temperature
– The presence of catalysts such as catalase,
lacto-peroxidase and heavy metals
Hydrogen Peroxide

 Its antimicrobial action increases with

temperature
 When hydrogen peroxide is used for cheese
making, the milk is treated with 0.02 percent
hydrogen peroxide followed by catalase to
remove hydrogen peroxide
 Hydrogen peroxide can be used for sterilizing
food processing equipment and for sterilizing
packaging material used in aseptic food
packaging systems
Sodium
Chloride

 Sodium chloride has been used for centuries

to prevent spoilage of foods
 Fish, meats and vegetables has been
preserved with salt
 Today, salt is used mainly in combination with
other processing methods
 The antimicrobial activity of salt is related to
its ability to reduce the water activity (aw)
thereby influencing microbial growth
Sodium Chloride
 Salt has the following characteristics:
– It produces an osmotic effect
– It limits oxygen solubility
– It changes pH
– Sodium and chloride ions are toxic
– Salt contributes to loss of magnesium ions
 The use of sodium chloride is self-limiting
because of its effect on taste
Bacteriocins - Nisin
 Nisin is an antimicrobial polypeptide produced
by some strains of Lactococcus lactis and
widely lactic acid bacteria
 These inhibitory substances are known as
bacteriocins
 Nisin has been called an antibiotic, but this
term is avoided because nisin is not used for
therapeutic purposes in humans or animals
 Nisin-producing organisms occur naturally in
milk
 It contains no aromatic amino acids and is
stable to heat
Bacteriocins - Nisin
 Nisin is also used in the heat treatment of
nonacid foods and in extending the shelf life
of sterilized milk
 Its effectiveness decreases as the bacterial
load increases, it is unlikely to be used to
cover unhygienic practices
 Nisin is a polypeptide with a molecular weight
of 3 500, which is present as a dimer of
molecular weight of 7 000
 It contains some unusual sulfur amino acids,
lanthionine and b-methyl lanthionine
Acids
 Acids as food additives serve a dual purpose
(Acidulants and Preservatives)
 Phosphoric acid is used in cola soft drinks to
reduce pH
 Acetic acid is used to provide tartness in
mayonnaise and salad dressings
 Straight-chain carboxylic acids, propionic and
sorbic acids, are used for their antimicrobial
properties
 Propionic acid is mainly used for its antifungal
properties
 Similar functions are served by organic acids
Antioxidants

 Food antioxidants in the broadest sense are all

of the substances that have some effect on
preventing or retarding oxidative deterioration
in foods
 i) Primary antioxidants
– Terminate free radical chains and function as
electron donors
– They include the phnolic antioxidants, butylated
hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated
hydroxytoluene (BHT) tertiary butyl
hydroquinone (TBHQ), propylgallate (PG) and
Antioxidants

 ii) Oxygen scavengers

– Can remove oxygen in a closed system
– Most widely used compounds are Vit C, and
related substances, ascorbyl palmitate, and
erythorbic acid (the D-isomer of ascorbic acid)
 iii) Chelating agents or sequestrants
– They remove metallic ions, especially copper
and iron, that are powerfull pro-oxidants
– Citric acid is widely used for this purpose
– Amino acids and ethylene diamine tetraacetic
acid (EDTA) are examples of chelating agents
Antioxidants
 iv) Enzymatic antioxidants
– Can remove dissolved head space oxygen, such
as glucose oxidase
– Superoxide dismutase can be used to remove
highly oxidative compounds from food systems
 v) Natural antioxidants
– Present in many spices and herbs
– Rosemary and sage are the most potent
antioxidant spices
– Active principles in rosemary are carnosic acid
and carnosol
– Antioxidants from spices can be obtained as
Emulsifiers
 With the exception of lecithin, all emulsifiers used in
foods are synthetic which are derivatives of fatty
acids
 They are characterized as ionic or nonionic and by
their hydrophile/lipophile balance (HLB)
 Lecithin is the commercial name of a mixture of
phospholipids obtained as a byproduct of the
refining of soybean oil
 Crude soybean lecithin is dark in colour and can be
bleached with hydrogen peroxide or benzoyl
peroxide
 Hydroxycarboxylic and fatty acid esters are
produced by esterfying organic acids to
Emulsifiers
 The emulsifying properties, especially HLB, are
determined by the chain length and unsaturation
of the fatty acid chain
 This increases their hydrophilic properties
 Organic acids used are
– Acetic, citric, fumaric, lactic or tartaric acid
 Acetic acid esters can be produced from mono-
and diglycerides by reaction with acetic anhydride
or by transesterification
 They are used to improve aeration in food high in
fat content and to control fat crystallization
Emulsifiers

 Sucrose fatty acid esters can be produced by

esterification of fatty acids with sucrose, usually
in a solvent system
 When the level of esterification in increases to
over five molecules of fatty acid, the
emulsifying property is lost
 At high levels of esterification the material can
be used as a fat replacer because it is not
absorbed or digested and therefore yields no
calories
Bread improvers

 To speed up the aging process of wheat flour,

bleaching and maturing agents are used
 Benzoyl peroxide is a bleaching agent that is
frequently used
– Other compounds – including the oxides of
nitrogen, chlorine dioxide, nitrosyl chloride,
and chlorine – are both bleaching and
improving (maturing) agents
· Most of these bread improvers can only be used
in small quantities, because excessive amounts
Bread improvers

 Improvers used to ensure that dough will

ferment uniformly and vigorously include
– Oxidizing agents: Potassium bromate,
potassium iodate, calcium peroxide
 There may be small amounts of other
inorganic compounds in bread improvers
– Including ammonium chloride, ammonium
sulfate, calcium sulfate…
Natural vs
Synthetic

 What are some examples of natural

additives??? – That means guess guys!!!!
 Salt and sugar
 Artificial or synthetic are made in a laboratory;
they aren’t found naturally in food
 The chemical “ingredients” are the
same as any that occur in nature, but
the chemicals are joined or modified in
the food science lab to produce a
substance.
Common Food
Additives

 Acesulfame – K (Artificial sweetener, used in

chewing gum)
 Aspartame – Artificial sweetener
 Azodicarbonamide – Bleaching agent in
flour
 Guar Gum – Stabilizer for ice cream and
soups
 MSG – Flavor enhancer in soups, Chinese
foods
 Saccarin – Artificial sweetener

Orange Juice
is Good For
You. Or is It?
Advantages of additives

1. Increase shelf life – preservatives

2. Reduce risk of food poisoning –
preservatives
3. Prevent waste – preservatives
4. Make food more appetising – colouring
5. Improve taste – flavouring
6. Improve texture – physical
conditioning agents
7. Increase nutritive value
8. Provide wider variety of foods
Improving Storage
Properties

 Two hundred years ago, diets were largely

limited to locally produced foods
 Today that orange can be treated with
preservatives
 These are usually chemicals used to prevent mold
and bacteria from spoiling food
 Commonly used preservatives include sodium
nitrate, sorbic acid, sodium bisulfite, and sodium
nitrate
 Preservatives are normally chosen because they
are economical and don’t affect a food’s flavor,
color or texture
 Some perseveres are chosen to enhance color
(meat is sometimes sprayed with sodium nitrate –
Increasing Healthfulness
 Increasing additives is also included in boosting a
food’s nutritional profile.
– Fortification = is adding nutrients that are not
normally found in a food (ex. Milk is fortified with vit.
D)
– Restoration = nutrients that are lost in processing are
returned to the food with the process called restoration
(reestablishes the product’s original nutritive value ex.
Vit. C is put back into canned oranges)
– Enrichment = adding nutrients lost in processing
(contain more nutrients than existed in the food before
processing (ex. Vitamins are increased)- Examples are
bread, pasta, and other products made from white
flour that have B vitamins added back.
– Nitrification = process that adds nutrients to a food
with a low nutrient/kcalorie ratio so the food can
replace a nutritionally balanced meal (nutrition bars
Making Food More
Appealing thru Color

 Almost all soft drinks, cheeses, ice cream, jams,

and jellies owe at least part of their coloring to
additives.
 Some colors are made from food
(caramelizing sugars)
 However, nearly ½ the common colorings
are created in the laboratories
 Each of the synthetic colorings are
identified with a number.
Making Food More
Appealing thru Flavor
 About 2000 natural and synthetic flavors are
available.
In the US five times as many products
are grape-flavored as are flavored by the
concord grape.
– Sometimes using a natural flavor
would make a food too costly to
produce.
Flavor enhancers are substance that
gives no flavor but bring out the flavor in
the food.
Making Food More
Appealing thru
Sweeteners

 Of all of the flavor enhancers, sweeteners are

the most common
 Sweeteners are basically either nutritive or
nonnutritive
– Nutritive sweeteners metabolize to produce
calories
– Examples are sugar (sucrose), brown sugar,
maple syrup, molasses, and honey.
 Sorbitol (taste ½ as sweet as sucrose, diabetics
use this sugar)
 Sorbitol absorbs more slowly from the intestinal
Making Food More
Appealing thru
Sweeteners
 Nonnative sugars are also called artificial sweeteners.
(They have no calories but still taste sweet. Following
sweeteners are currently approved by FDA:
– Sucralose – made from sugar but is 600 times
sweeter. (produces no calories)
– Saccharin – made from petroleum products,
saccharin is 300 times as sweet as sucrose. If used
in great amount, it leaves a bitter taste.
– Aspartame – 200 times sweeter than sugar,
supplies no calories and leaves no aftertaste.
Cannot be used in baked goods or cooked products,
it losses it’s sweeteners , which is why many diet
sodas have a use-by date
– Acesulfame – 200 times sweeter than sugar. Use
in candies, baked goods, frozen desserts, and
References

1. John M. deMan (1999).Principles of Food Chemistry

2. Niir Board. Modern Technology on Food Preservation
3. Dennis R. Heldman, Richard W. Hartel (1998). Principles of
Food Processing
Thank You for Listening
1. Is it safe to use chemicals for food preservation that are not listed as
GRAS by FDA regulations? - false

2. Preserve foods by using salt and sugar works by:

a. Lowering osmotic pressure
b. Creating a hypertonic environment
c. Creating a hypotonic environment
d. Raising pH

3. Nitrite prevents the growth of:

e. Pseudomonas aeruginosa
f. Clostridium botulinum
g. Escherichia coli
h. salmonella
4. Nisin is used as:

a. Antimicrobial agent
b. Emulsifier
c. Stabilizer
d. Sweetener

5. The effectiveness of many chemical preservatives depends primarily on the

food:
e. Water
f. Temperature
g. pH
h. All of the above

6. Which of the following is not normally considered to be a food additive?

i. Salt
j. Artificial sweeteners
k. Antioxidants
l. Artificial colour
m. Preservatives
7. Which one of the following is not given an E number?:
a. vitamin C
b. salt
c. sulphur dioxide
d. tartrazine.

8. Which type of additive is required to prevent separation in

Mayonnaise, salad cream, and so on?:
(a) an emulsifier
(b) a solvent
(c) a humectant
(d) an anti-oxidant.

9. Three of the following are used in food as preservatives against

micro-organisms. Identify the one that is not:
(a) sulphur dioxide
(b) the antibiotic Nisin
(c) salt
(d) BHA.
10. ___________ is the adding of nutrients that are normally not present in food.
a. restoration
b. enhancers
c. fortification
d. Nitrification

11. _____ is known to discolor when held at high temperatures for extended periods.
a) Sorbic acid
b) Potassium sorbate
c) Sorbic acid & Potassium sorbate
d) Neither of the mentioned

12. Which of the following is a food additive that needs to be approved by the government before
it can be used?

a. Flour
b. Sugar
c. Salt
d. Ascorbic acid
13. Food additives widely used for many years without apparent ill effects are on the ___ list.
a. FDA
b. USDA
c. GRAS
d. Delaney

14. Which of the following is NOT a function of a food additive _____

a) To maintain product consistency
b) Maintain nutritive value
c) Controlling acidity/alkalinity
d) None of the mentioned