Monday, October 29, 2007

Chemistry of Food

10.5 Additives are used to enhance food’s appearance, texture, and flavor


For food labels, the ingredients list goes in order of amounts. There are three main enhancers used in food, colors and bleaching agents, thickening agents and texture modifiers, and flavor enhancers. First color and bleaching agents are used to make food more appetizing and pleasing to the consumer. There have been seven food colorings that have been certified for use in the United States, and that actually are used currently. There are many natural products used to create different textures and agents. Some of those products are carrageenan, a carbohydrate extract, xanthan gum, and many other various cellulose derivatives. The most common flavor enhancer is MSG, which is used in Chinese food, such as soups. MSG is sodium salt of the naturally occurring amino acid glutamics acid. The side effects of MSG are headaches and nausea. Some enhancers are used to exaggerate the flavor of meat, and allow the manufactures to use less of the “real thing.” They are ionic compounds produced from organic acids and occur at small concentrations in some natural products. Ever wondered why food spoils? It’s when unsaturated fat molecules can decompose and produce foul-smelling, foul-tasting, that react with oxygen in the air.
Unsaturated fat+ O2ààAldehydes, acids, ketones

Unknowns
Carrageenan: extracts of carrageen seaweed, has been used as food additives for hundreds of years.
Xanthan gum: is a polysaccharide used as a food additive and rheology modifier.
Glutamics acid: is the protonated form of glutamate (the anion). Glutamate is one of the 20 proteinogenic amino acids. It is not among the essential amino acids. Its codons are GAA and GAG.
Aldehyde: An aldehyde is an organic compound containing a terminal carbonyl group. This functional group, which consists of a carbon atom which is bonded to a hydrogen atom and double-bonded to an oxygen atom (chemical formula O=CH-), is called the aldehyde group.

In society, most people don’t have a clue of what is in their food, or what at all they may be eating. By informing the public would bring much satisfaction to the world. People would be more cautious, aware, and healthier. Less problems and consequences would arrive in light of this new information. Next time, it wouldn’t hurt to look and see what your food contains and maybe choose a healthier route!
Baird, C. Chemistry in Your Life. W.H. Freeman and Company Press: USA, 2006; pp 380-386

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