FOOD ADDITIVES

Food additives are chemicals added to foods to keep them

fresh or to enhance their colour, flavour or texture . There are four general
categories of food additives: nutritional additives, processing agents,
preservatives, and sensory agents. These are not strict classifications,
as many additives fall into more than one category. For more
information on additives, see emulsifier; food colouring; nutritional
supplement; and preservative.
PRESERVATIVES
Many chemicals have been used in the preservation of food for many
years. These use traditional chemical preservatives including smoke, salt,
sugars, vinegars and spices.
Sulphur dioxide is the commonest preservative in use, and owes its action
to yielding sulphurous acid in solution. Thiamine is rapidly destroyed by
sulphites and pork sausages which contain sulphites as a preservative
contain much less thiamine than the original pork. Sulphites promote the
retention of vitamin C, and their presence in fruit juice and pulp may be
regarded as advantageous, apart from their preservative qualities.

BLANCHING
Blanching is a thermal process used mostly for vegetable tissue prior to
freezing ,drying,or canning. It is slight heat treatment using hot water
or steam .  The water-soluble vitamins, including vitamin C and B-
complex, are sensitive and easily destroyed by blanching.

HADIYA REHMAN-