Types of Food Additives - Essay Example

"Types of Food Additives" is an inspiring example of a paper on food and nutrition. Nutri-Grain Bars superfruit flavors Cherry Pomegranate is a whole grain meal made from oats blended with a variety of fruit flavors. There are several food additives in these crackers that improve and maintain the nutritional value of the product. These additives include; potassium bicarbonate, and malic acid, which are pH Adjusting, Acid-Reacting Materials or Water Correcting Agents. Sequestering additives included in this product are sodium citrate and citric acid these bind to metallic elements in food to preserve flavor and other nutritional components. However, these two agents can as well serve as pH adjusting agents. Sodium alginate, guar gum, and carrageenan are agents for emulsifying, gelling and stabilizing the product and its nutritional components. They ensure homogenous suspension of food particles by forming a gel matrix on which the particles are evenly suspended.

Methylcellulose is a thickening agent used in Nutri-Grain bars and it maintains the consistency of processed food by modifying the viscosity in the mixture. Cellulose, on the other hand, is a food enzyme additive that catalyzes the breakdown of starch present in whole oats. Mono and diglycerides are other additives that act as carriers and extracting solvents, which dissolve artificial colors and flavors. Soy lecithin is an antioxidant, and, therefore, acts as a preservative that reduces the rate of deterioration, and rancidity caused by oxidation processes. Citric acid can also act as an antioxidant and, therefore, serve as a preservative in addition to being a pH adjusting agent. Dicalcium phosphate is a firming agent applied during the processing of natural flavors that would be softened by the heating process.

Wheat thins are a processed wheat product pre-packed as thin, crispy crackers. The packing of this product is clearly marked with the common name of the product in both English and French languages The name is printed in bold white font color on a blue background giving it clear contrast. It is also labeled with the name and address of the manufacturer, including a contact address for inquiries and questions. The weight of the product is marked in grams on the lower left side of the label.

There is a nutritional table on one of the side planes of the packaging, printed with detailed nutritional facts of the commodity. The nutritional information for this product is expressed as a percentage of a given weight or pieces of the product. For instance, the product contains 4 % fat in 21 grams of serving. The packaging is also labeled with a list of the ingredients and additive incorporated in the product. The ingredients are arranged in descending order with a decreasing proportion. Information indicated on the other panel includes storage conditions and the estimated expiry date of the product. The product package contains the nutrient content claim that it contains 37% less fat than the original wheat crackers.

This labeling conforms with Canadian food drug regulations for processed and pre-packed foods. These regulations require a dual language labeling that is English and French of the product’s common name. National facts, ingredients, and quantity of the products must also be labeled on the packaging and include relevant information on allergies. The nutritional claim on the label is also in line with the regulation on claims and statements of food and drugs.

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