Safety of Food Additives

The FDA and comparable agencies in other countries have made significant efforts to make sure that chemicals added to foods will not cause health problems for humans who consume those foods. Consumers can be almost certain that the additives used to preserve foods, give it color and flavor, and impart other desirable properties will not kill people, cause cancer, affect the health of their children, or result in other health problems.

Still, food additives are not absolutely risk free. The primary med­ical concern about the addition of chemicals to our food is the likeli­hood that some small fraction of the population will experience side effects. For example, some small and unknown fraction of the popu­lation is allergic to one or more of the common food additives. Some individuals are allergic to color and/or flavor additives, to preserva­tives like sulfites, to polysorbates, and to almost any other synthetic food additive that one can name. The side effects produced by these additives range from rashes and hives to headaches and nausea. It is only in the rarest cases that these side effects become life threaten­ing, although the discomfort they produce can be serious for those who experience them. The chart on page 50 summarizes some com­mon allergies to food additives.

One group of additives that does pose a potentially serious health threat is the nitrites, compounds widely used to preserve meats and to retain their pinkish-red color. When used as food additives, ni­trites can undergo chemical changes that result in the formation of relatively dangerous compounds. The problematic reaction occurs when the nitrite group (NO2) reacts with an amino group (NH2) from the protein found in meat. The product of that reaction is a nitrosamine, a compound containing the =N—N = O group. An ex­ample of a nitrosamine is shown in the diagram below.

Nitrosamines are well-known carcinogenic agents, therefore, ni­trites would normally not be permitted for use as food additives. But nitrites continue to be approved by the FDA because they are so effective in preventing the growth of Clostridiium botulinum, the deadly bacterium that causes botulism. Industry specialists say that no satisfactory substitute for nitrites is yet available.

/CH3 0 =N — N чсн3 N-nitrosodimethylamine © Infobase Publishing

Chemical structure of N-nitrosodimethylamine

The search for new chemicals to be used as food additives con­tinues today. Food technologists always seem to be able to imagine one more way of making our foods safer to eat or more attrac­tive to purchase. For example, a research team at the University of Melbourne in Australia announced in 1999 the development of

< ALLERGIC REACTIONS TO SOME COMMON FOOD ADDITIVES V
FOOD ADDITIVE	ALLERGIC REACTION(S)
aspartame	skin rash, hives, swelling of body tissue
benzoic acid/parabens	asthma, hives, swelling of the skin
cochineal	reactions ranging from hives to anaphylactic shock
FD&C Yellow No. 5	hives
lactose	digestive problems (for people who are lactose intolerant)
monosodium glutamate (MSG)	headache; tightness in the chest, neck, and face
mycoprotein	nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, hives
sulfites	hives and itchiness of the skin; lung irritation; asthma

an additive that can be used to reduce tooth decay. The product, named Recaldent, is a mixture of two substances, casein phospho-peptide (CPP) and amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP). CPP is derived from casein, a protein found naturally in milk, where it holds in suspension the calcium and phosphate ions from which tooth enamel is built. When Recaldent is added to foods, chewing

gum, toothpaste, or similar products, it appears to protect teeth against tooth decay and to repair teeth where decay has already begun to occur.

The use of food additives dates to the earliest stages of human his­tory. Until recently, almost the only use for additives was the preser­vation of foods. In the past century, additives have been developed for a variety of other purposes, perhaps the most important of which is for nutritional purposes. The invention of synthetic vitamins and minerals has made possible the enrichment of foods with nutritional additives, resulting in a dramatic decrease in nutritional disorders that have plagued humans for millennia. A major emphasis in ad­ditive research today is the development of chemicals that improve the attractiveness of food by augmenting its color, odor, taste, tex­ture, shelf life, or other properties. Food chemistry is one of the most exciting fields of chemical research today, offering researchers challenges of creating even more useful and attractive additives for use in tomorrow's foods.