Food additives are substances added to food to preserve flavor or improve its taste and appearance. Some additives have been used for centuries; for example, preserving food by pickling (with vinegar), salting, as with bacon, or using sulfur dioxide as in some wines. With the advent of processed foods in the second half of the 20th century, many more additives have been introduced, of both natural and artificial origin.

Numbering

To regulate these additives, and inform consumers, each additive is assigned a unique number. Initially these were the "E numbers" used in Europe for all approved additives. This numbering scheme has now been adopted and extended by the Codex Alimentarius Committee to internationally identify all additives, regardless of whether they are approved for use.

E numbers are all prefixed by "E", but countries outside Europe use only the number, whether the additive is approved in Europe or not. For example, acetic acid is written as E260 on products sold in Europe, but is simply known as additive 260 in some countries. Additive 103, alkanet, is not approved for use in Europe so does not have an E number, although it is approved for use in Australia and New Zealand.

• See list of food additives for a complete list of all the names.
• See E number for the numbers.

Categories

Food additives can be divided into several groups, although there is some overlap between them.

Acids 

Food acids are added to make flavours "sharper", and also act as preservatives and antioxidants. Common food acids include vinegar, citric acid, tartaric acid, malic acid, fumaric acid, lactic acid.

Acidity regulators 

Acidity regulators are used to change or otherwise control the acidity and alkalinity of foods.

Anticaking agents 

Anticaking agents keep powders such as milk powder flowing freely.

Antifoaming agents 

Antifoaming agents reduce or prevent foaming in foods.

Antioxidants 

Antioxidants such as vitamin C act as preservatives by inhibiting the effects of oxygen on food, and are generally beneficial to health.

Bulking agents 

Bulking agents such as starch are additives that increase the bulk of a food without affecting its nutritional value.

Food coloring 

Colorings are added to food to replace colours lost during preparation, or to make food look more attractive.

Colour retention agents 

In contrast to colourings, colour retention agents are used to preserve a food's existing colour.

Emulsifiers 

Emulsifiers allow water and oils to remain mixed together in an emulsion, as in

• food supplement BLOGS
•  

	Go Natural On Food Supplements By Mario R. ChurchillHave you ever wondered what food supplements you could useaside from those ... . But there are other natural foodsupplements that you could use as alternative to over thecounter ... be daily foodsupplements that you could use as alternative to vitamintablets. There is so much http://dieting-helph17c1xo1.blogspot.com..
more food supplement blogs..
	Go Natural On Food Supplements By Mario R. ChurchillHave you ever wondered what food supplements you could useaside from those ... . But there are other natural foodsupplements that you could use as alternative to over thecounter ... be daily foodsupplements that you could use as alternative to vitamintablets. There is so much http://safe-dietingtqkg1nik.blogspot.com..
more food supplement blogs..