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Additives And Preservatives Used In Food Processing And Preservation, And Their Health Implication
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Preservatives are centuries old, since ancient
times, salt has been used to cure meats and fish, sugar has been added
to fruits to conserve them, Herbs, spices and vinegar have also served
as preservatives.
Today’, the U.S food and Drug Administration (FDA)
regulates food preservatives, arrested, mistakes have been made, which
has resulted in taking some food preservatives off the market.
That is because at the time of approval, prevailing testing methods proved the substance as safe.
As
science continued to evolve and testing methods improved, changes were
made. Technology has also assisted in the approval process, as it has
become more sophisticated over the years as well.
Preservatives are
often present in nature but they are in such small quantities, difficult
to obtain. To obtain commercially useful amounts of the preservatives
synthetic copies of the natural products. Other preservatives are made
in the series of chemical reactions. Typically, preservatives attack
the enzymes inside the microbes and some can disrupt the microbe’s cell
wall so that substances cannot enter, processes kill or seriously slow
the growth of food-spoiling microbes.
Probably, the most important
use of preservatives from the food safety point of view is in processed
meats such as ham, bacon, salami and sausages. Bacteria like
clostridium botulinum can produce deadly poisons and the use of
preservatives in such products is absolutely essential. For example,
most cured and cooked meats contain the preservative. Potassium nitrate
(salt petre).
The ability to preserve food in good condition for
long periods is an undoubted bon. The amount of food wasted is reduced
and the incidence of food poisoning is minimized. A wider range of
foods is available including foods “out of season†and foods from
overseas that could not be transported and stocked in former times.
The
widespread use of preservatives, refrigerators, ‘deep freezer’
equipment and canned and dehydrated food has made it easy for the
consumer or caterer to have available a wide range of wholesome food at
all times of the year. As we are suppressing the growth of micro
organisms, an effective method of food preservation must retain, as far
as possible, the original characteristics of the food and imparity
nutritive value as little as possible (Saltmarsh, M. 2000).
We may
say that without additives and preservatives, the very wide range of
foods we have come to take for granted would not exist and most
convenience foods could not be made.
Our food would be less
attractive and less palatable and seasonal foods would not be available
all the year round as they are now. Less food would be available in a
fresh and prime condition and to put it bluntly – less food would be
available.
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