Why Food Additives?

Once upon a time, all food was processed in the kitchen and consumed fresh. Then, a very long time ago, division of labour began. In villages, someone would set up as a baker or butcher, offering to take some of the labour out of food preparation. This process has continued unabated with the growth of urban populations and changing lifestyles. Although many people enjoy making bread, cakes, wine, beer, and ice cream at home, we accept that generally these items will be bought from specialists.

Food additives came into being because mass, specialized food production has different requirements to those of the household kitchen. Problems of keeping qualities became acute in foodstuffs produced a long way from their point of consumption. Food additives came into use to satisfy these requirements for processed foods. In some products additives are so essential that they are retained even in organic foods.

In less developed economies, losses of foodstuffs between farm and table, due to microbiological deterioration, are very high and even in modern countries such as Britain the high incidence of food poisoning indicates the extent of this threat. Between one in fifty and one in five of the UK population probably suffers one bout of food poisoning per annum. This figure would be much higher without preservatives. Preservatives, colours and flavours are the best known additives but in fact there are many categories of additives, each tailored to a specific purpose.

For an entertaining journey through the realms of food, chemistry and additives, see In the Mix.

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