Risks of Food Additive

Risks of Food Additive
Food additives, especially vitamins and minerals the quantity added to a finished food product may not be sufficient to achieve an intended health benefit.

Some foods that are commonly consumed by the majority of the population may be supplemented with various vitamins or minerals.

A single serving of a fortified food may not provide the same health benefit as regular consumption of a fortified food.

For example, iodine is added to table salt to provide a regular source of this important mineral.

Table salt is regularly consumed by most Americans, and iodine is often lacking in typical diets.

The determination of a beneficial, yet safe, quality of iodine to add to table s at must consider the typical consumption of salt over the lifetime of the consumer.

While food additive may provide a benefit to a processor or a consumer when used as intended, the use of an inappropriate quantity may be deleterious to the food or to the consumer.

If an additive is used in excess to process a product, then the desired effect may not be achieved, or else there may be an undesirable quality defect attributed to the product.

For example, of an artificial sweetener such as aspartame is added to a beverage in a high concentration, then the product may be too sweet and rejected by the consumers.

Or an excessively high concentration of a chemical additive may lead to an acute illness or injury to the consumer, such as can occur with sulfiting agents.

People who are sensitive to additive s containing sulfur, especially those with asthma, are at a greater risk to suffer am allergic reaction to high levels of sulfites.

Safety determination of additive use should consider the effects of accidental or intentional consumption of a high quantity of an additive that is beyond its prescribed used level.

Also additive may be injuries to health when consumed in moderate doses over extended time periods.

When the risks or benefits of food additive use are considered, estimation must be made of the long term or lifetime consumption of the additive.

These substances may have cumulative effects in health may interact with other biological or chemical compounds in the body, or may elicit different responses in consumers of different ages or health status.
Risks of Food Additive

Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)

Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)
Glutamic acid was isolated by Ritthausen.

In 1098 Ikeda found that MSG is the beneficial active component of the algae Lamniria japonica, used for a long time in Japan as a flavor improver of soup and similarly prepared soup.

The taste of MSG cannot be explained by a combination of sweet, salty, sour and bitter tastes.

It is, as the fifth quality, of an elementary nature. This assumption, which was made as early as 1908 by a Japanese researcher to explain the special taste called umami, was recently confirmed by the identification of a taste receptor for MSG.

Indeed MSG is one of the most important taste-bearing substances in meat and ripened for longer periods of time.

Reports by Japanese researchers that glutamyl peptides, e.g., Glu-Glu, also taste like MSG have not been confirmed.

The taste of MSG is intensified by certain nucleotides. Glutamate promotes sensory perception particularly of meat like aroma notes, and is frequently used as an additive in frozen, dehydrated or canned fish and meat products.

MSG is added in the concentration range of 0.2 – 0.8%.

The intake of larger amount of MSG by some hypersensitivity persons can trigger a “Chinese restaurant syndrome”, which is characterized by temporary disorders such as drowsiness, headache, and stomach ache and stiffening of joints. These disappear after a short time.
Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)