Food Additives and Why They Are Used

Abstract

Food additives are added to food for a number of technological reasons – to increase shelf life, facilitate processing, improve eating characteristics or appeal to the consumer. Some have been used for hundreds of years while others have been introduced only recently. This chapter provides a brief introduction to the historical background to the use of food additives in Europe through trade and technology to set the current situation in perspective. It provides a definition of an additive, identifies the 27 classes of additive permitted in Europe and elaborates their uses, from acids to thickeners.

Topics & Concepts