Now there are many products on the package which is written in large letters, «without preservatives», «without flavorings» or «no dyes». Typically, the goods with such characteristics enjoyed tremendous consumer demand, and it is not surprising: anyone who cares a little about your health, prefers to go without «chemistry».
For food additives are regarded with suspicion. These substances are considered questionable, even harmful and dangerous. Nevertheless, no modern man can not avoid their use in the daily diet.
The most common food additives - preservatives, preventing food from rotting. First, for these purposes, use salt, sugar and vinegar. During the long years ahead of the three cooks spices, but with the advent of the twentieth century the situation radically changed. Legkoportyaschihsya a lot of products that had to be transported over long distances. Manufacturers have been hard to think about how to increase the shelf life of foods. The matter was so urgent that large companies have begun to spend millions on developing and testing new kinds of preservatives. Efforts by food are not lost in vain - to date, complete list of these substances involves a little less than a hundred titles. Untutored people just surprised such a diversity, which nevertheless is quite justified: a substance used for preserving meat, while others - for fish or vegetables, the third - to the sour-milk products.
Extend periods of storage products and other supplements - antioxidants. These substances do not prevent the reproduction of bacteria and fungi, but they would prevent samookislenie food. Everyone knows that the food in the air begins to rapidly deteriorate. To ensure that this does not happen, in the mid 60-ies in the food started to add antioxidants to protect fats and oils from rancidity, fruit - from the appearance of dark spots, wine and beer - from zamutneniya.
Just for other purposes are emulsifiers. These compounds maintain the homogeneity of the food mass, consisting of a totally mixed phases. Take, for example, water and oil. No special additives are never mixed up with each other. Adding emulsifier puts all its sites: Food Components «glue together», and water-fat solution is homogenous. It is due to emulsifier margarine, mayonnaise, ketchup and ice cream are smooth and uniform consistency. Otherwise, they would resemble the structure of layer-cake.