CONSUMER CHEM.

REVIEWER

FOOD PRESERVATIVES
- Substances added to food to prevent food spoilage thus making them last
longer or extending their shelf life
- Prevent or slow down the process of fermentation and decomposition of
food items
- Can be natural or artificial

EX:
Salt, Sugar, Lemon, Vinegar (Natural)
Nitrites, Sulfites, Sorbates (Artificial)

1. Antimicrobial
- Prevent growth of microorganisms
2. Antioxidants
- Prevent oxidation of food that contains fats and oils which cause rancidity
3. Anti-enzymatic
- Prevent discoloration of food cause by enzymes

CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF FOOD PRESERVATIVES

1. Nitrites and Nitrates
- Chemical preservatives used to cure processed meats such as ham, bacon,
corned beef, and others
- Prevent growth of bacteria, Clostridium botulinum, which produces a
deadly toxin that causes botulism
- When nitrites are added to meat they will be converted into nitric oxide,
which then reacts with the heme compounds (pigment in myoglobin) to
 form nitroso myoglobin, the substance responsible for the distinct pink
color in processed meats.
- When meats are cooked with high heat or exposed to high acid, nitrites will
be converted to toxic nitrosamines
2. Sulfur dioxides and sulfites
- Have been used to preserve food not only by inhibiting microbial growth
and nonenzymic browning
- Most commonly used forms include sulfur dioxide gas and metabisulfite.
These compounds dissolve in water, at low pH levels produce sulfurous
acids, bisulfites and sulfite ions
3. Lemon, Kalamansi, and other citrus fruits
- Acidic substances such as citric acid, ascorbic acid, or vitamin C and
erythorbic acid have the ability to reduce the quinones which is responsible
for the brown pigment in cut raw fruits and vegetable
- Fruits and vegetables turn to its brown color due to oxidation of
polyphenols to quinones which was catalyzed by the enzyme polyphenol
oxidase of PPO
- Quinones then react with other compounds to form melanin (responsible
for the dark brown pigment in cut fruits and veggies), Melanin is also
pigment that colors our hair, skin and irises
4. Antioxidants
- Slows down the oxidative deterioration of food that may result to loss of
colors, flavors, rancidity, and even loss of its nutritive value
5. Oxidation
- Chemical reaction in which the electrons or hydrogen from a substance is
transferred to an oxidizing agent
- This occurs when substances are exposed to air. Antioxidants like ascorbic
acid remove oxygen by self-oxidization
- While others like BHA, BHT, Vitamin E, TBHQ, work by interfering the
mechanism of oxidation
Vitamin E – Fat soluble vitamin
Vitamin C – Water soluble vitamin
6. Propyl gallate
 - White crystalline powder found in mayonnaise, soup mixes, etc.
- An ester which is formed by the condensation of gallic acid and propanol
7. BHA
- Waxy solid used to preserve butter, lard, meats, and other food while BHT
has similar structure and function but in powder form

Sometimes you will see some codes instead of name of the preservatives.
E200-E299 preservatives
E300-E399 antioxidants and acidity regulators
FOOD ADDITIVES
- Any substance that becomes part of a food product either directly or
indirectly during some phase of processing, storage or packaging
- Has to be added
- Does not “chance of contamination”

Codex Alimentarius
“Additives are not considered nutritional even if they have some
nutritive value”’
Means any substance not formally consume as food by itself and not
normally used as a typical ingredient of the food, The term does not
include contaminants or substances added to food for maintaining or
improving nutritional qualities

IMPORTANCE
- Play a key role in maintaining food qualities and characteristics thayt
consumers demand, keeping food safe, wholesome and appealing

TYPES
1. Natural
- Found naturally, such as extracts from beetroot juice (E162)
2. Manmade
- Synthetic identical copies of substances found naturally, such as benzoic
acid (E210)
3. Artificial
- Produced synthetically and not found naturally, such as nisin (E234) in diary
products
WHAT IS E-NUMBER?
- Tells us “what the additive is used for”
- Approved for use in the EU
EX: (E ###-###)
100 – 199 food colors
200-299 preservatives
300-399 antioxidants
400-499 emulsifiers and stabilizers
500-599 anticaking
600-699 flavorings

1. Preservatives
- prevent growth of micro-organisms that could cause spoilage and lead to food
poisoning
- salting and sugaring are two of the oldest methods
2. Anti-oxidants
- prevent oxidative rancidity in foods high on fats and oils
- Certain vitamins and various amino acids can easily be destroyed by exposure to
air
- water soluble (ascorbic acid, citric acid, phosphoric acid) and fat soluble (BHA,
BHT, catechin, quercetin, 2-6-dimexothyphenol, ethoxyquin)
- Naturally occuring substances
- Effective in low concentrations (0.01-0.02%)
- Mixed sometimes act synergistically
- Mostly prevent browning of cut fruit, vegetable, and fruit juices
3. Colors
- Replace lost colors during preperation, or make food more attractive

EX: FD & C (color) No. #

Blue 1 – brilliant blue FCF
Blue 2 – indigotin
Red 3 – fast green
Red 40 – allura red AC
Red 3 – erythosine
Yellow 5 – tartrazine

“Why use color additives?”

1. Restore color lost during processing or storage
2. Ensure that each batch is produced identically or does not appear “off”
3. Reinforce color
4. Give color
5. Ensure color consistency

4. Flavoring agent
- Flavor enhancers bring out the flavor in foods without imparting flavor of their
own
- Natural flavor such as spices and their extracts, herbs, roots, essence and
essential oils have been used
- Not in uniform as they vary season and area of production
- Natural are now replaced with synthetic
“Why use food flavorings?”
- To enhance flavor
- Restore original flavor lost during processing
- Add flavor to food that are tasteless
5.Flavor enhancers
- Flavorings are added to a wide range of food, usually in small amounts to give a
particular taste
- Do not have E-NUMBERS because controlled by different food news
6.Anticaking agents
- placed in powdered food to prevent from caking or sticking
SODIUM BICARBONATE (white solid that is crystalline, but often appears as fine
powder, has a slight salty taste and can be found in many mineral springs,
known as baking soda)
6. Antifoaming agents
- reduce or prevent foaming in food
- added to cooking oils to prevent excessive frothing during deep frying
Many types of deformers including oil based, water based, silicone based, and
EO/PO based
7. Glazing agent
- provide protective coating or sheen on the surface of foods (for appearance and
shelf life)
8. Emulsifiers
- Help mix together ingredients that would normally seperate
9. Stabilizers
- prevent ingredients from seperating again
10. Gelling agents
- used to change the consistency of food
11. Thickeners
- help give food body (can be found in most sauces)

COMMONLY USED AND EFFECTS

1. Tartrazine
- (C16H9N4Na3O9S2), known as FD&C Yellow no. 5 and E 102
- Synthetic azo dye primarily used as food coloring
- ADI is 7.5 mg/kg however long term and excessive ingestion may cause
allergies and immune system disorder, genotixic potention towards human
lymphocytes and could bind directly to DNA
2. Boric Acid
- (H3BO3)
- Widely used as food preservative (4gm/L) in food products like caviar, also
used for preserving meats, caviar, and dairy products
- Toxic to cell, if consumed in higher amounts it can cause serious harm to
human health however due to unawareness of its risk, it is continued to be
used in many foodstuffs
- Surpressed sperm release from the testes when animals were treated with
high amount; it inhibits DNA synthesis in sperm cells and hence reduces
fertility and impairs fertility in mail rodents
3. Circumin
- It can have carcinogenic effect
- High doses of curcumin have shown few sideffects, with some reporting
mild nausea or diarrhea
- Found to alter iron metabolism by chelating iron and suppressing the
protein hepcidin potentially causing iron deficiency
- Has embryotocic and tetratogenic effects on zebrafishes embryos
4. Nitrite and Nitrate
- Binds to hemoglobin and results in chemically altered hemoglobyn that
impairs oxygen delivery to tissues, resulting in blue color of the skin
- Exposure to higher levels lead to cancer in adults and possibly brain tumors,
leukemia, and nasopharyngeal tumors in children in some studies
- Reduced oxygen of hemoglobin, also called “blue baby syndrome” because
of the cyanotic symptomps that result from the reduced oxygenation of
blooed
- Growth retardation (fetal exposure to elevated levels of nitrates in drinking
water), sudden infant death syndrome, cardiac effects, and increased risk of
nervous system defects
- Childhood diabetes, reccurent diarrhea, reccurent repsiratory tract
infections, brain tumors, leukemia, nasopharyngeal cancers in children
5. Annato
- Safe for most people whne used in small amounts
- Can cause rare allergic reaction for those who are sensitive to it
- 40 years of irritable bowel syndrome due to unrecognized sensitivity to it
- Annato dye is a potential rare cause of anaphylaxis
6. BHA and BHT
- Synthetic monocyclic phenolic compounds
- Commonly used in formulations as food preservative for their antioxidant
properties
- Suspected for inducing health risks such as child hyperactivity, damaged
lungs, liver and kindeys, cancer
- Can be carcinogenic at high doses
- Concentration greater than 3000 ppm induce forestomach squamous cell
carcinomas in rodents while BHT 250 mg/km/day increase spontaneous
neoplasms and tumor-promoting activity
7. Vinegar
- Esophageal injury by applying cider vinegar table
- Long term heavy vinegar ingestion has one recorded case of possible cause
for hypokalemia, hyperreninemia and osteoporosis

8. Aspartame
 - Likely one of the many dietary triggers of migranes
- Many studies stating reasons why it should not be consumed
- It does not get metabolized
- Not strictly non-caloric

FOOD COLORING
1. Brilliant blue (baked goods, beverages, candles, cereal)
- May induce allergic reactions in people with pre-existing asthma
2. Indigo camine (beverages, candies, dog food)
- Cause significant tumors, brain gliomas, in male rats
3. Citrus red (skin of Floride, oranges)
- Toxic to rats and mice at modest levels, bladder and other tumors in mice,
“possibly carcinogenic to humans”
4. Fast green (beverages, candies, ice cream)
- Accelerates the appeacerance of immune system tumors in mice, triggers
hyperactivity in children, causes allergy-like reactions)
5. Erythrosine (baked goods, candies, sausage, maraschino cherries
- Triggers hyperactivity in children, thyroid carcinogen in animals
6. Tartrazine (baked goods, candies, cereal, beverages)
- Causes allergy-like reactions, mild to severe hypersensitivity reactions
7. Sunset yellow (baked goods, sausage, cereal, cosmetics)
- Hyperactivity in some children, cause adrenal tumors in animals

FOOD SWEETENERS
- Sweetening agents are substances added to beverages in order to mask the
bitter taste and enhance sweetness
- The discovery of some artificial sweeteners can be credited back to the few
brave scienists who violated the laboratory hygiene and tasted their samples

NATURAL SWEETENERS
1. Fructose
- Most important ketose sugar and is a reducing sugar
- White in color when pure and dried, odorless, sweet, has a crystalline form,
most water soluble
- “generally recognized as safe status” as it has been noted with much
research consuming it either pure or in form poses no adverse effects
- 1.2x sweeter than sucrose
- Interacts well with other sweeteners and contributes to a boost in height of
baked goods and viscosity of food and beverages
2. Sucrose
- Found in many fruits, veggies and grains
- Added in many processed foods and other sweetened beverages
- Another use is a preservative
3. Maltose (malt sugar)
- Reducing sugar made out of dehydration reaction between two glucose
molecules
- Commonly found in starchy grain, veggies and fruits
- Less sweet that fructose and table sugae but has long been used in hard
candy and frozen desserts because of unique tolerance to heat and cold
4. Honey
- First sweetener used in the world
- Has biological properties such as antioxidants, antibacterial and anticancer
- Doesnt spoil overtime
- Supersaturated sugar solution that contains acids, minerals, vitamins, and
amino acids
 - Derived from plant nectar which is a mixture of different sugars, proteins,
and other compounds in a water solution
5. Stevia (?)
- A very popular low-calorie sweetener
- Part of sugar substitute market
- One of the unique food ingredient, extracted from the leaves of a stevia
rebaudiana plants
- Very sweet but virtually has no calories, contains steviol glycoside which is
10-15x sweeter than sucrose
- Sweet glycoside does not break dow in in heat which makes stevia excellent
for cooking and baking
- Tends to lower the elevated blood pressure
6. Tagatose
- New hexrose sweetener
- Manufactured from lactulose or milk sugar in two step
- Used in dairy products, diet softdrinks, frozen yogurts, frostings, gum,
health bars, nonfat ice cream and ready to eat cereals

ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS
- Sugar and other caloric sweeteners had been cast as the main culprits of
the obesity pandemic

1. Acesulfame Potassium
- Potassium salt developed by Hoechst
- 200x sweeter than sucrose
- Wate soluble and stable at high temp
- May leave a slight aftertaste

2. Aspartame
- Non-carbo sweetener
- Discovered by James M. Schlatter in 1965 in the course of producing an anti
ulcer drug candidate
- Commpnly used in many diet softdrink
- Often breaks down when heated and loses much of its sweetness, making
unsuitable for baking
- In the philippines, it is much cheaper so it is used in street beverages
3. Neotame
- Has hgih degree of sweetness and obtained by N-alkylating aspartame
- 7000-13000x sweeter than sugar and has no calories
- Result of a long-term research programe
- Odorless white to gray-white powder with a strong sweetness
- Holds advantage over aspartame; better heat stability
4. Saccharine
- One of the oldest artificial sweeteners, very first dicovered
- Accidentally discovered by Constantine Fahlberg in 1878
- Used to sweeten food and drinks over the years
- Often used because its fairly stable and has longer shelf life
- Safe to consume
- Used in the production of various pharmaceutival products
5. Sucralose
- Used as a sugar substitute because it doesnt contain calories and carbs
- Non nutritive sweetener
- Stable at most temps, generallty all purpose sweetener used in baked
goods, etc.
- 600x sweeter than sugar
- Created in 1976