How Food Additives and Preservatives Benefit Us All
Sometimes it seems like food additives and preservatives have gotten a bad name recently and for no good reason. Some people claim they want to go back to a time before preservatives, but those people don’t know what they’re asking for. Food preservatives are among the most important achievements and breakthroughs in human cooking history, and they are to thank for our current ability to feed people around the world.
If you’ve never stopped to think about how important food additives and preservatives are, here are a few things to chew on.
Food Preservation Is as Old as Human History
One of the greatest challenges faced by every human civilization is the problem of obtaining enough food for its people and keeping that food edible even in hard times. Everywhere on Earth, the solution was to devise food additives and preservatives.
You might think of substances such as salt and sugar as commonplace – and they are today – but thousands of years ago they were the miracle additives that allowed meats, vegetables, fruits, and more to stay good for far longer than they would normally. After all, most foods will begin to rot after just a few days. Preservatives can keep them edible for weeks, months, even years!
Today, we have a much wider range of food additives at our disposal, but the purpose remains the same: allowing as many people as possible to safely eat.
Food Additives and Preservatives Make Food Safer and Tastier
Beyond the basics of making food last longer, food additives and preservatives have numerous other uses. For example:
- Preventing disease. Nitrates are commonly added to processed meats, such as sausage, to inhibit the formation of botulism and other deadly diseases.
- Maintaining texture. Food in cans and jars tends to break down into mush. Firming agents such as calcium chloride can be added so that the food retains its texture and is still enjoyable even after months.
- Regulating food creation. Most foods created through complicated means – such as cheese-making or beer-brewing – utilize additives to help regulate the process and ensure better-quality end products.
- Improving flavor. After all, we still add salt and sugar just for the taste, even if we don’t need them as preservatives!
FBC Industries Helps Feed the World
We’re a leading supplier of healthy, closely vetted liquid food additives and preservatives, trusted by food companies around the world. Contact us to learn more about our products and to request a sample today.
What You Should Know About Food Additives
There’s a lot of talk in the media about food additives, and a lot of scaremongering to go with it – speaking badly of food additive suppliers. People online speak of trying to avoid food additives altogether, but that would actually be a very poor idea. Without additives, nearly every food on your local store shelves would go bad within a matter of days, disintegrate into mush within the bottle, or worse.
The truth is food additives have an extremely important role to play in feeding the world – and they’re nothing to be concerned about. Here are some facts.
Why Are There Food Additives in So Many Products?
The vast majority of food additives are there to act as preservatives. That is, they slow down the process of decay so that food can remain edible for longer. In many cases, they allow these foods to be eaten many weeks – or even months – past the point they would be inedible without preservation.
Food additives can serve numerous other roles as well. They can act as firming agents, preventing food from getting mushy, or they can act to preserve the flavor of the food over long periods. Others preserve the color and texture of a food, such as stopping oxidation on the outside of cut fruit.
Without food additives, a trip to the grocery store would be very different!
Are Food Additives Safe?
In nearly all cases, yes. For one thing, even the most basic of ingredients and spices can be considered food additives. Sugar, salt, curry… these are just a few of the additives which have been used as preservatives throughout human history.
Even when the additives are less commonplace as those ingredients, they are carefully regulated. The US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) closely monitors all food additives, and regularly tests them for their safety. Similar governmental bureaus around the world do the same thing. In all cases, the additive is either declared to be safe, or it’s kept out of foods.
In addition, these governmental agencies include guidelines and standards on maximum allowed amounts, just to make sure the preserved foods remain safe.
FBC Industries Is A Top Food Additives Supplier
FBC supplies the world with the best in food additives, distributed in liquid form to ensure the highest possible quality and purity. To learn more about our products, or request free samples for testing, just contact us.