Food Additives

SPM Chemistry Form 5 Notes – Chemicals for Consumers (Part 10)

20 September 2011

Food dyes or food colourings are substances added to food (include solid food and drinks) to give it a new colour. It must be noted that food dyes can be synthesised or can also be obtained naturally. Tartrazine E102 is an example of artificial dye, while pandan leaves are sources of natural dye. [Tartrazine or [...]

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SPM Chemistry Form 5 Notes – Chemicals for Consumers (Part 9)

17 September 2011

Food thickeners are substances which increases the viscosity (in laymen terms, “flowability”) of food without significantly altering other phyiscal or chemical properties. The thickeners are usually based on proteins (such as collagens, gelatins and egg whites) or polysaccharides (such as pectin, starches and vegetable gums). The food thickeners used are relatively specific to the type [...]

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SPM Chemistry Form 5 Notes – Chemicals for Consumers (Part 8 )

15 September 2011

Food stabilisers are typically used in food production to provide a firmer texture to food. It works by stabilising emulsions through the inhibition of reactions between chemicals in food. (It should be noted that they are not true emulsifiers.) This part, Part 8 of notes from Berry Berry Easy on the Form 5 chemistry chapter [...]

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SPM Chemistry Form 5 Notes – Chemicals for Consumers (Part 7)

13 September 2011

Food flavouring or flavour enhancers are food additives to gives or strengthen the taste/smell of a particular food. It allows food to be sweet, sour, salty, bitter and so on. It should be noted that natural flavour extracts have high costs, so usually synthesised commercial flavourants which are chemical equivalent to the corresponding natural flavours [...]

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SPM Chemistry Form 5 Notes – Chemicals for Consumers (Part 6)

11 September 2011

Antioxidants are added to food as food additives to act as preservatives. This prolonged the edible period of food and retain its nutrient by inhibiting the effects of oxygens on food (oxidation), which is directly beneficial to human health. Natural antioxidants may include ascorbic acid and tocopherols, while common synthetic antioxidants include TBHQ, BHA and [...]

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SPM Chemistry Form 5 Notes – Chemicals for Consumers (Part 5)

9 September 2011

Food additives are added to food to improve its flavour, appearance and functional aspects. Most Berry Readers will imagine food additives to be of synthetic nature and involves a lot of industrial chemistry. However, this is a misconception as additives have been used since ancient times with natural food additives such as salt (salting), vinegar [...]

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