Phenolic Compounds

Plant phenolic and polyphenolic compounds, are defined as compounds possessing one or more aromatic rings bearing hydroxyl substituent(s), and are the secondary metabolites of phenylalanine and to a lesser extent tyrosine in plants.

 Phenolic compounds mostly present in various types of foods of plant origin. Natural antioxidants have been extensively found in fruits and vegetables, seeds of many fruits, cereals, berries, wine, tea, olive oil, and aromatic plants. The content of phenolic compounds in foods may change during processing and storage as mediated by light and temperature.

There is now considerable evidence that wine phenolics, particularly resveratrol, inhibit low-density lipoprotein oxidation and reduce platelet aggregation, two major parameters implicated in atherothrombogenesis. This provides a possible explanation for the cardio protective action of wine.

Phenolic compounds such as cafeic acid, chlorogenic, p-coumaric and ferulic are present in parts of plants that are used as spices. The antimicrobial activity of these and other acids as hydroxycinnamic and cinnamic may retard microbial invasion as well as fruit and vegetable putrefaction.

Apart from being naturally present in the raw materials used for foods, phenolic compounds are also added to certain foods and beverages as colorants or as antioxidants. Phenolic compounds have also been successfully employed as the processing aid for texture modification of fish mince and surimi.

The potential value of phenolic compounds as biopreservatives is considered for the safe extension of perishable products shelf life and these substances can be used to delay or inhibit the oxidation and growth of microorganisms. However, in food applications, the phenolic compounds could be influenced by food components, processing and storage.
Phenolic Compounds

Health risk associated with food additives

The FD&C act requires that food additives be functional but does not take into account any benefits that may accrue from their use. However, the functions of food additives are directly related to their benefits.

Today all new food additives undergo a safety assessment to minimize any potential adverse effects of food additive to human health.

The determination of the appropriate uses and concentrations of additives to allow in foods can be a complex process.

Directly or indirectly added additives may have a demonstrated usefulness to a food processer or consumer, but they may also have harmful toxicological effects when consumed in excess quantities or by sensitive population groups.

Human health continues to be at risk from illegal use of chemicals that are not approved for use as food additives in the manufacture of food.

For example, in developing countries street-food vendors have been reported to continue to misuse of boric acid and Sudan red.

In Europe the commonest food additive, thought to cause adverse reactions are tartrazine, sunset yellow, annatto, aspartame, benzoic acid and sulfites.

A UK study showed a higher reporting of adverse reactions to food additives in the first ten years of life and more often occurring in females.

Most of the adverse reactions attributed to food additives involve non-protein substance, affected individuals are usually considered to have a ‘sensitivity’ or an ‘intolerance’ rather than allergy.
Health risk associated with food additives

Health effects of food additives

Pesticides and additives have been prominent subjects for the media, which may lead some people to focus on those hazards more than others.

Food additives are an integral part do modern foods. Food additives make possible year-round safe, convenient and tasty foods.

People do die from microbial hazards, but deaths due to consuming pesticide residues or food additives are rare.

Excessive levels of an additive or inclusion of an undeclared additive may be directly dangerous in some instances, but food additives themselves, when used properly, pose little health risk given current scientific evidence.

Today manufacturers use more than 3000 food additives. Food additives are those substances that are intentionally added to food for maintaining or improving its appearance, texture, flavor and nutritional value, as well as for the prevention of microbial spoilage.

Despite benefits attributed to food additives for several years there have also been a number of concerns regarding the potential short and long term risks of consuming food additives.

Critics of additives are concerned with both indirect and direct impacts of using additives.

The indirect health effects are the opposite of some of their beneficial effects. The use of additive had led to a wider food assortment, but also increased availability of food with a low nutrient content including junk food.

The direct effects include short-term as well as long term toxic effects.
Health effects of food additives

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

Labeling of Food Additive

Labeling of Food Additive
The risks or benefits of food additive and ingredients must be clearly displayed for consumers. The FD&C Act requires, in virtually all cases, a complete of all the ingredients of a food.

The Nutrition Labeling and Education Act which amended the FD&C Act requires most foods to bear labeling and requires food labels that bear nutrient content claims and certain health massages to comply with specific requirements.

Two of the exemptions from ingredients labeling requirements have resulted in special product labeling efforts to protect the health of consumers.

First, the act provides that species, flavorings, and colorings may be declared collectively without naming each one.

One exception is the artificial color additive FD&C Yellow #5. This chemical must be specifically identified in the ingredients statement of finished foods because a small percentage of the population may be allergic or sensitive to the additive.

Second, FDA regulations exempt from ingredient declaration incidental additives, such as processing aids, that are present in a food at insignificant levels and that do no have a technical or functional effect in the finished food.

One of important example of an incidental additive is peanuts. An increasing number of products are identified that they “may contain peanuts.”

While peanut-derived ingredients were not intentionally added to these products, residues from peanut use in processing on nearby equipment or previous production runs may have contaminated these products with peanut residues.

Since peanuts are one of the leading causes of allergic responses to foods, many companies have chosen to label some product with “may contain peanuts.”

Some foods may be identified or labeled to contain additives that can improve public or individual health.

Many ready to eat breakfast cereal products are fortified with several vitamins and minerals.

A quantity of these substances is added to the cereal so that a consumer may expect to consume 25 to 100% of the recommended daily intake of that nutrient from a defined size serving.

Additives that can improve human health are sometimes advertised elsewhere in finished product packaging besides the ingredients list and nutrition label.
Labeling of Food Additive