Food Additives and Their Adverse Effects on Human Health Dr Elfadol Obeid Mohamed Ali Assistant professor of Public Health Department of Environmental Health Faculty of Public Health &Health Informatics Umm AL- Qura University

Presentation contents To identify the reason(s) why food additives are used. •To understand the different sources of food additives. To understand the different roles and functions of food additives in food Food additives numbering &Categories Health problems associated with food additives Twelve most dangerous food additives

Food additives  Food additives :are substances added to food to preserve flavor or enhance its taste and appearance. Some additives have been used for centuries; for example, preserving food by pickling (with vinegar), salting, as with bacon, preserving sweets or using sulfur dioxide as with wines. foods in the second half of the twentieth century, many more additives have been introduced, of both natural and artificial origin.

What are food additives? Food additives are substances added to products to perform specific technological functions. These functions include preserving, increasing shelf-life or inhibiting the growth of pathogens, or adding colouring and flavouring to food for interest and variety. It is also a substance or a mixture of substance other than basic foodstuffs, which is present in food as a result of production, processing, packing.

Numbering To regulate these additives, and inform consumers, each additive is assigned a unique number, termed as "E numbers", which is used in Europe for all approved additives. This numbering scheme has now been adopted and extended by the Codex Alimentarius Commission to internationally identify all additives,[1] regardless of whether they are approved for use or not.

Food additives purpose Food additives are added to foods in precise amounts during processing. They are Technologically justified for: • Maintaining the nutritional quality of the food; • Enhancing the keeping quality or stability of food thereby reducing food wastage; • Making food attractive to consumers in a manner which precludes deception; and • Providing essentials aids in food processing.

Categories Food additives can be divided into several groups, although there is some overlap because some additives exert more than one effect. For example, salt is both a preservative as well as a flavor.[3] Acidulents  confer sour or acid taste. Common acidulents include vinegar, citric acid, tartaric acid, malic acid, fumaric acid, and lactic acid

Categories Acidity regulators are used for controlling the pH of foods for stability or to affect activity of enzymes. Anticaking agents  Anticaking agents keep powders such as milk powder from caking or sticking. Antifoaming and foaming agents  Antifoaming agents reduce or prevent foaming in foods. Foaming agents do the reverse. Antioxidants  Antioxidants such as vitamin C are preservatives by inhibiting the degradation of food by oxygen. Bulking agents  Bulking agents such as starch are additives that increase the bulk of a food without affecting its taste. Food coloring  Colorings are added to food to replace colors lost during preparation or to make food look more attractive. Color retention agents  In contrast to colorings, color retention agents are used to preserve a food's existing color.

Cont. Emulsifiers  Emulsifiers allow water and oils to remain mixed together in an emulsion, as in mayonnaise, ice cream, and homogenized milk. Flavors  Flavors are additives that give food a particular taste or smell, and may be derived from natural ingredients or created artificially. Flavor enhancers  Flavor enhancers enhance a food's existing flavors. A popular example is monosodium glutamate. Some flavor enhancers have little flavor independent of the food. Flour treatment agents  Flour treatment agents are added to flour to improve its color or its use in baking. Glazing agents Glazing agents provide a shiny appearance or protective coating to foods. Humectants  Humectants prevent foods from drying out. Tracer gas Tracer gas allow for package integrity testing to prevent foods from being exposed to atmosphere, thus guaranteeing shelf life. Preservatives  Preservatives prevent or inhibit spoilage of food due to fungi, bacteria and other microorganisms.

Cont. Stabilizers  Stabilizers, thickeners and gelling agents, like agar or pectin (used in jam for example) give foods a firmer texture. While they are not true emulsifiers, they help to stabilize emulsions. Sweeteners  Sweeteners are added to foods for flavoring. Sweeteners other than sugar are added to keep the food energy (calories) low, or because they have beneficial effects for diabetes mellitus and tooth decay and diarrhea. Thickeners  Thickening agents are substances which, when added to the mixture, increase its viscosity without substantially modifying its other properties.

Safety Many studies that test the safety of additives are based on animal trials. It is difficult to determine whether the results of an animal study equate to human health, though many of these studies show that the additives could be cancer-causing.

Twelve most dangerous food additives

1. Sodium Nitrate/Nitrite  A preservative, coloring, and flavoring used with meat products, sodium nitrate . It is commonly added to bacon, ham, hot dogs, luncheon meats, smoked fish, and corned beef to stabilize the red color and add flavor. It also prevents growth of bacteria, but studies have linked eating it to various types of cancer. Under certain high-temperature cooking conditions such as grilling, it transforms into a reactive compound that has been shown to promote cancer.

2. BHA and BHT  2. BHA and BHT Butylated hydroxyanisole and butylated hydrozyttoluene, are used to preserve common household foods. They keep fats and oils from going rancid and are found in cereals, chewing gum, potato chips, and vegetable oils. These substances are oxidants, and anything that oxidizes or reduces a substance, changes the chemical structure. Some of them oxidize to form these compounds that react in the body, and some times some people may at risk for cancer.

3. Propyl Gallate 3. Propyl Gallate used to prevent fats and oils from spoiling and is often used in conjunction with BHA and BHT. This additive is sometimes found in meat products, chicken soup base, and chewing gum. Propyl gallate has not been proven to cause cancer, but studies done on animals have suggested that it could be linked to cancer.

4. Monosodium Glutamate 31. Monosodium glutamate is an amino acid used as a flavor enhancer in soups, salad dressings, chips, frozen entrees, and restaurant food. It is commonly associated with Asian foods and flavorings. MSG can cause headaches and nausea in some people, and animal studies link it to damaging nerve cells in the brains of infant mice. There is some recommendation to replacing MSG with a small amount of salt when possible .

5. Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil Hydrogenated vegetable oil, also called partially hydrogenated vegetable oil and commonly known as Trans fat. Trans fats are proven to cause heart disease, and make conditions perfect for stroke, heart attack, kidney failure, and limb loss due to vascular disease. Experts recommend we consume no more than 2 grams of trans fat per day.

6. Aspartame Aspartame  6. Aspartame, also known by the brand names Nutrasweet and Equal, is an additive found in “diet foods” like, low-calorie desserts, gelatins, drink mixes, and soft drinks. It also comes in individual packages used in place of sugar as a sweetener. Aspartame is a combination of two amino acids and methanol that may cause cancer or neurological problems, such as dizziness or hallucinations. Studies conducted in the 1970s, and more recent studies from 2006 on, suggest that lifelong consumption may increase a person’s risk of cancer. Expert says that aspartame could be unhealthy for some people—especially those with the disease phenylketonuria, an enzyme disorder—because it contains phenalalanine

7. Acesulfame-k 7. Acesulfame-k This is a relatively new artificial sweetener, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1998 for use in soft drinks. It is also found in baked goods, chewing gum, and gelatin desserts. Acesulfame-K is considered 200 times sweeter than sugar. There is a general concern that testing on this product has been scant. Some studies showed the additive may cause cancer in rats, but the substance makes top 12 lists of additives to avoid because further study is needed to conclude whether or not acesulfame-K is harmful

8. food colorings  8. food colorings: blue 1,2; Red 3;Green 3;yellow 6 some specific dye colors do promote tumor formation, in the right combination and conditions.” Blue 1 and 2, found in beverages, candy, baked goods and pet food are considered low risk but have been linked to cancer in mice. Red 3, used to dye cherries, fruit cocktail, candy, and baked goods, has been shown to cause thyroid tumors in rats. Green 3, added to candy and beverages, though rarely used, has been linked to bladder cancer. Studies have linked the widely used yellow 6—added to beverages, sausage, gelatin, baked goods, and candy—to tumors of the adrenal gland and kidney

9. Olestra :Olestra, a synthetic fat known as the brand name Olean and found in some potato chip brands, prevents fat from getting absorbed in your digestive system. This often leads to severe diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and gas. More significantly, though, Olestra inhibits healthy vitamin absorption from fat-soluble carotenoids that are found in fruits and vegetables and thought to reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease. It blocks fat absorption, but it also blocks vitamin absorption

10. Potassium Bromate :Potassium bromate is rare, but still legal in the U.S., and used as an additive to increase volume in white flour, breads, and rolls. Most bromate rapidly breaks down to an innocuous form, but it is known to cause cancer in animals—and even small amounts in bread can create a risk for humans. California requires a cancer warning on the product label if Potassium bromate is an ingredient.

11. White Sugar : Some foods, such as fruits and carrots, naturally contain sugar, but foods with added sugars, such as baked goods, cereals, crackers, even sauces and many other processed foods. Simple sugars are nontoxic but large amounts are unsafe because they take nutrients from your body in order to metabolize them. Most Americans lose 20-40% of their daily calories to sugar when it shouldn’t take more than 10%. Too much sugar leads to problems with weight control, tooth decay and blood sugar levels in diabetics.

12. Sodium Chloride Small amounts of salt are essential to the body but too much can cause health problems such affecting cardiovascular function, leading to high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, and kidney failure

References .Paul L. knechtages . Food safety theory and practice .Jones and Barrlett 2012. www.jblearning.com 3- Herman Koren &Micheal Bisest. Environmental Health handbook , Biological , chemical ,physical agents of environmentally related disease. Volume (1) Fourteen edition . Lewis Publishers 2003 Codex official documents in codex website Food Additives Committee