- Food Additives: The “Legal Helpers” of the Modern Food Industry
Most of the bread, beverages, and soy sauce on your table contain food additives—they are the “legal helpers” of the modern food industry.
All food additives permitted for use in our country (such as the preservative potassium sorbate and the thickener carrageenan) have undergone rigorous safety evaluation and variety approval by the national health administration. These have been formulated and promulgated as national food safety standards, or published in the form of public announcements. These include the food safety standards and quality specifications for each category of food additive, as well as the “National Food Safety Standard – Standard for the Use of Food Additives” (GB 2760) and the “National Food Safety Standard – Standard for the Use of Nutrient Fortifiers in Food” (GB 14880) and announcements by health authorities.
Used within the scope and limits specified in the aforementioned national food safety standards and announcements, they can improve food quality and color, aroma, and flavor, as well as meet preservation, freshness, and processing requirements.
- Safety Based:
Food additive risk assessment serves as the scientific basis for food additive safety reviews and standard development and revisions. It generally adheres to the general principles of international food chemical risk assessment and covers four components: hazard identification, hazard characterization, exposure assessment, and risk characterization.
✅ Hazard Identification: The purpose is to determine whether a food additive may have adverse effects on human health under specific conditions. This involves evaluating the chemical properties and toxicological characteristics of the food additive, as well as its intended use and dosage in food.
✅ Hazard Characterization: Purpose This step quantifies the extent and likelihood of adverse health effects caused by food additives. Based on the results of hazard identification, this step further analyzes and describes the dose-response or exposure-response relationship between food additives and specific health effects.
✅ Exposure assessment: The goal is to estimate the actual intake of food additives by the population and their distribution. This involves considering factors such as the amount of food additives used in different food categories, consumer dietary habits, and changes in food processing and storage.
✅ Risk characterization: The goal is to synthesize information from the first three steps to comprehensively assess the overall risk level of food additives to public health. This step combines the results of hazard characterization and exposure assessment to draw conclusions about the safety and appropriate dosage of food additives. - Process Necessity:
Food Additives The technological necessity of a preservative refers to its irreplaceable role in achieving specific technical goals during food production and processing.
This is primarily reflected in four key areas: ensuring the fundamental need for food safety and quality; meeting the technological demands of the modern food industry; maintaining a dynamic balance between regulations and scientific evaluation; and balancing consumer health and industrial development.
✅ Basic Needs for Ensuring Food Safety and Quality:
Microbial growth in food is the primary cause of spoilage.
When traditional processes such as high temperatures, high salt concentrations, and drying cannot completely suppress microorganisms, preservatives are necessary. For example, potassium sorbate can inhibit mold and yeast growth, extending the shelf life of bread.
Food additives can also improve texture, ensuring that products meet consumer expectations. For example, emulsifiers like sucrose fatty acid esters prevent oil-water separation, ensuring the consistency of ice cream. A dense texture.
✅ Meeting the technical demands of the modern food industry:
Traditional fermentation processes struggle to meet the efficiency and consistency requirements of industrialized production. Using a leavening agent, sodium bicarbonate, which decomposes during baking to produce carbon dioxide, can create a porous structure in bread and cakes, enhancing their fluffiness.
To meet the nutritional needs of specific populations, vitamin D and calcium can be added to infant formula to address nutrient gaps in the diet.
✅ Dynamic balance between regulations and scientific evaluation:
“Minimizing use in food while achieving the intended effect” and “not concealing food spoilage” are key principles for the use of food additives.
Because the same effect can be achieved through improved production processes, optimized packaging technology, and cold chain transportation and preservation, the “National Food Safety Standard” implemented on February 8, 2025, The “Standard for the Use of Food Additives” (GB 2760-2024) has removed some food additives whose process necessity is insufficient. For example, it stipulates that azodicarbonamide is prohibited from use in all foods. It also removes the use of dehydroacetic acid and its sodium salt in butter, concentrated butter, starch products, bread, pastries, baked food fillings and batters, prepared meat products, canned meat, and fruit and vegetable juices (pulps), ensuring that the list is scientifically updated.
✅ Consumer Health and Industrial Development:
Risk-benefit trade-offs and the drive for industrial innovation are also important factors in evaluating process necessity.
Although some food additives, such as sodium nitrite, are banned in the catering industry due to potential risks, their use in specific foods during food production is rigorously evaluated. GB 2760-2024 stipulates that the residue limit in cured meat products and Western-style ham production is 30%, 10%, and 20%, respectively. mg/kg and 70mg/kg, far below the carcinogenic dose of its metabolites, nitrosamines, in the human body. Furthermore, its ability to inhibit the effects of botulinum toxin significantly reduces the risk of food poisoning, which can even be fatal.
In addition, technological necessity is driving companies to develop safer and more effective alternatives. For example, the natural preservative nisin is gaining popularity due to consumer preference. Despite its higher cost, leading companies have gradually expanded its use through technological optimization.
