Is natural safer than artificial?
Can we tell by looking at a label which additives are natural and which are man-made?
Aren't all additives chemicals?
Why don't we just use natural ingredients?
A large number of additives do occur naturally, for example, ascorbic acid or vitamin C (E300), beetroot red (E162), citric acid (E330) and pectin (E440). However, natural ingredients will sometimes fail to meet the necessary processing requirements. Some naturally occurring colours are sensitive to light and heat and tend to lose their natural colour during processing. Artificial colours are often preferable in canned foods because they are better able to withstand the high temperatures involved in the canning process |
