Food additives are not always dangerous & bull; hello healthy

What are additives?

Food additives or additives are chemicals added to food in order to keep food fresh or to improve the color, taste, or texture of food.

Additives come in both natural and artificial forms. Various additives are food coloring, sweeteners, flavor enhancers (such as MSG), preservatives, emulsifiers, and many more.

However, based on the Food and Drug Regulations, food additives do not include:

ingredients in food, such as salt, sugar, and starch,
vitamins, minerals, and amino acids,
seasonings, spices, or flavorings,
agricultural chemicals,
veterinary medicine, as well
food packaging materials.

If you shop for packaged food at the supermarket, you can see what food additives are contained in the packaged food in the ingredient composition column.

You may not know which ingredients are classified as additives because they are usually listed in a coded form, but some are also listed by name.

What are the functions of additives?

Food additives are deliberately added to food to provide specific functions to food. Some of the main functions of food additives are as follows.

Provides a smooth and consistent texture

This function can be found in additives in the form of:

emulsifier: to combine several different textures of food ingredients into one,
stabilizers and thickeners: to give food more texture, as well
anti-deflating agent: so that the food does not clump.

Maintain the usefulness of food

Additives that function to maintain food uses are preservative. Preservatives can inhibit the growth of germs on food, so that food does not spoil quickly.

Certain preservatives can also retain flavor in baked goods by preventing fats and oils from going bad.

Control acid-base balance in food

Certain additives can help change the acid-base balance in food for a specific taste or color, such as acidity regulator.

Addition developer in food it also releases acids, so when food is heated, it can make foods, such as biscuits, cakes, and other baked goods expand.

Provides color and enhances taste

Dye which is deliberately added to certain foods can make the food color attractive. While, taste it can also be added to foods to give them a strong flavor.

The functions of other food additives, namely:

prevent oxidative damage to food (antioxidants),
increase the sweetness available in food without increasing the calories (sweetener),
increase the viscosity of food (thickener),
reduce moisture loss in food (humectant), and
there are many other food additives.

Are additives safe?

Many of the additives used by the food industry are also found in certain foods as their natural ingredients.

For example, MSG, which is found naturally in parmesan cheese, sardines, and tomatoes, is in greater amounts than MSG, which is found as a food additive in food.

Some people may think that all food additives are dangerous, but that is not true. Additives are declared safe for consumption in certain amounts.

In Indonesia alone, the use of additives has been regulated by the BPOM (Food and Drug Supervisory Agency). BPOM guarantees that food additives are safe for use in food.

Some people may be sensitive to certain food additives, it can cause allergic reactions, such as itching of the skin or diarrhea. However, this cannot be generalized to all food additives.

Some of the food additives that may cause problems in some people are as follows.

Flavor enhancers, such as monosodium glutamate (MSG) 621
Food coloring, such as tartrazine 102, yellow 2G107, sunset yellow FCF110, cochineal 120
Preservatives, such as benzoates 210, 211, 212, and 213, nitrates 249, 250, 251, 252, sulfites 220, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, and 228
Artificial sweeteners, such as aspartame 951