Role of Some Common Additives in Food
The marketplace is filled with a variety of products with additives, mainly preservatives. Without additives, many of these products would not be marketable. For parents and care providers concerned about the use of food with additives, the table below provides a list of some additives and their functions.
| Additive | Function |
| Acetic acid | Commonly used to give tartness to dressing, sauces, relishes. The key ingredient in vinegar. |
| Ascorbic acid (vitamin C, sodium ascorbate) | Keeps fruit slices from darkening, inhibits rancidity in fatty foods. Enhances nutrition value of beverages, beverage mixes. |
| Carrageenan | Improves consistency and texture of chocolate milk, frozen desserts, puddings, syrups. The most common stabilizer used in ice creams. Derived from seaweed. |
| Modified food starches | Special starches with desired characteristics (heat-stable, freeze-thaw stable) "built-in." Give body to pie fillings, gravies, and sauces. Derived from cereal grains and potato. |
| Pectin | Jelling substance extracted from citrus rind; provides consistency of body in all jams, jellies, and preserves. |
| Potassium sorbate | Controls surface molds on cheese, syrups, margarine, mayonnaise. |
| Sulfur dioxide | Inhibits browning in fresh and dried fruits. Prevents undesirable color changes when wine is exposed to air. |
| Vitamin B6 | Needed to help body use protein, carbohydrate, and fat. Added to cereals, other foods. |
| Vitamin B12 | Helps all body cells function normally. Added to cereals, other foods. |
| Zinc | Mineral added to cereals to promote proper growth. Deficiency can cause dwarfism. |
Excerpted From:
Excerpt from Food, Nutrition, and the Young Child , by J. B. Endres & R. E. Rockwell & C. G. Mense, 2004 edition, p. 188 .
© 2004, Merrill, an imprint of Pearson Education Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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