Nutritional supplements are called synthetic or natural substances, which are deliberately introduced into food products to achieve certain technological goals. Also these substances are known as direct food additives. Nowadays, the vast majority of food industry branches - confectionery, distillery, fish and meat processing, beer, non-alcoholic, bakery and others - all use hundreds of different food additives.
Classification by numbers
In the countries of the European Union, a special numbering system has been used to classify such additives since 1953. In it, each additive has its own unique number, starting with the letter "E". This numbering system was gradually finalized and later adopted in the Codex Alimentarius.
In this system, each addition is indicated by the letter "E" with the next number (for example, E122). The numbers are distributed as follows:
- 100-199 - dyes;
- 200-299 - preservatives;
- 300-399 - antioxidants;
- 400-499 - thickeners, stabilizers, emulsifiers;
- 500-599 - anti-caking agents and pH regulators;
- 600-699 - flavors and flavor enhancers;
- 700-799 - antibiotics;
- 800-899 - reserve;
- 900-999 - other;
- 1000-1999 - various additional substances, including anti-flamings.
Danger of some food additives
Such additives are usually needed to improve the stability and safety of food, for various purposes in the production, storage and packaging, to extend the shelf life of the product. However, it is known that, at a certain concentration, these supplements can pose a threat to human health, which none of the manufacturers deny.
In the media, you can often see reports that a particular additive causes allergies, cancer, stomach upsets, etc. But it should be remembered that the influence of any substance can vary depending on both the amount of substance and the individual characteristics of a person. For all additives, daily consumption rates are defined, the excess of which causes negative effects. For different substances, the dosage can range from a few milligrams to a tenth of a gram per kilogram of the human body.
It should also be remembered that some of these substances have a cumulative effect, that is, they can accumulate in the body. Control over the fact that the food contained supplements, of course, is entrusted to the producers.
Sodium nitrite (E250) is generally used in sausages, although this substance is a toxic substance of general toxicity (more than half of the rats die when taking a dose exceeding 180 mg per kilogram of weight), but there is no prohibition on its practical application at the moment, because it is the "least evil", providing a good appearance of the product, and consequently increasing the sales volume (in order to make sure of this it is enough to compare the color of shop sausages with the color of the home). In high grades of smoked sausages the norm of nitrite is higher than in cooked sausages, since it is generally accepted that they are consumed in smaller quantities.
The remaining additives can be considered quite safe, such as sucrose, lactic acid and others. However, the methods of their synthesis differ from country to country, therefore, accordingly, their danger to the organism can also differ. As the methods of analysis develop and new data on the toxicity of additives appear, the standards for the content of various substances in food additives can vary.
For example, previously considered harmless E121 contained in carbonated water and formaldehyde E240 are currently recognized as dangerous and prohibited for use. In addition, additives harmless to the body of one person, not necessarily harmless to everyone, so children, allergic people and elderly people recommend using less nutritional supplements.
A number of manufacturers for marketing purposes, instead of letter code indicate the name of the additive (for example "glutamate sodium"), others use a full record - and the chemical name and letter code.