활동

Food additives are chemicals added to foods to

keep them fresh or to enhance their colour, flavour or texture. They may include food colourings (such as tartrazine or

cochineal), flavour enhancers (such as MSG) or a range of preservatives.

Safety tests for food additives

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) is responsible for the approval of which food additives are

allowed in Australian foods. All food additives used in Australia undergo a safety assessment, which includes rigorous

testing before they are approved.Toxicological tests on animals are used to determine the amount of the additive that is

expected to be safe when consumed by humans. This is usually an amount 100 times less than the maximum daily dose at which ‘

no observable effects’ are produced by an additive consumed over the test animal’s lifetime.If there is any doubt over

the safety of an additive, approval is not given. If new scientific information becomes available suggesting that a food

additive is no longer safe, the approval to use the food additive would be withdrawn.

Most food additives are tested in isolation, rather than in combination with other additives. The long-term effects of

consuming a combination of different additives are currently unknown.

Plant Extracts: The Original Food Additives

Plant and herb extracts have long been used to enhance the healthfulness, color, and even taste and flavor of foods,

beverages and supplements. With an often “natural” positioning, their popularity is assured.

Ginny Bank, Contributing Editor