Additives are substances added to food in order to preserve, colour and stabilize food. Of course, there are natural additives like citric acid, vinegar and salt, but there are some artificial additives too. Moreover, there are additives potentially dangerous for our health and are to be used with restriction and only in accordance to the current regulations. However, most of the additives are not dangerous at all. With the industrial revolution, additive usage was significantly increased simply because additives enable the use of cheaper ingredients in food production making so, for instance, some types of food available throughout the whole year and not just seasonally. Industrial production without additives is unimaginable today, meanwhile even the so-called eco-food contains additive, but it may not contain substances like artificial flavours, colours, various artificial sweeteners, preservatives or flavour boosters. Ecological food production allows the use of only around fifty additives in relation to three hundred existing. Logically, the more processed food is, the more additives is it likely to have. Therefore, it is best to eat fresh food. Every food product should have a clear content declaration so we could know exactly what we put in our body. Nevertheless, marketing experts have found a way how to tackle this problem – by printing declarations with as smallest letters as possible, so to make it hardly visible or readable to most of the people. Additives comprise: preservatives, dyes, emulsifiers, antioxidants, thickeners, stabilizers, gelling agents, acid regulators, anti caking agents, acids and alkalis, lubricity agents, sweeteners, flavour boosters, glazing agents, moisture-retaining and whipping agents, flour-treatment agents, hardening agents, foaming agent, propellant gases, flavouring agents, enzymes and finally excipients in food production process. Each additive is assigned a unique E number for easier regulation of additives. Media often relate additives to various diseases, most often allergic reactions. Still, the most frequent cause of allergic reactions is of animal origin, i.e. proteins, rather than additives, even though some of them may lead to an allergic reaction. Generally, the most common food allergies are those to clams, shrimps and peanuts which is why these ingredients should be consumed with the utmost attention, in the children’s diet in particular. Definitely, it is best to eat as more as fresh food as possible, because you will automatically cut the entry of additives into your organism to a minimum. And don’t forget, prepare your meals at home as much as possible, avoid buying convenience food like soups and various sauces, rolls and similar.
L.Rađa