Food Additive

Food additives refer to chemical synthetic or natural substances added to food for the purpose of improving food quality, color, aroma and taste, as well as for the needs of anti-corrosion and processing technology. Generally, food additives may not be food and may not have nutritional value, but they must conform to the concept of the above definition, that is, do not affect the nutritional value of food, and have the function of preventing food spoilage, enhancing food sensory properties or improving food quality. 
Generally speaking, food additives can be divided into natural and synthetic categories according to their source. Natural food additives refer to natural substances extracted from the metabolites of animals, plants or microorganisms as raw materials. Chemically synthesized food additives refer to substances obtained by chemical means through oxidation, reduction, condensation, polymerization, salt formation and other synthetic reactions of elements or compounds. Most of the chemicals used today are synthetic food additives. 
According to the use, the classification of food additives in various countries is almost the same, the difference is mainly the difference in the classification of how much. The United States divides food additives into 16 categories, Japan into 30 categories, China's "Health Standards for the Use of Food Additives" divides them into 22 categories: Antioxidant preservatives (1) (2) (3) (4) bleach hair color agent (5) concreting citric acid (6) (7) loose agent (8) thickening agent defoaming agent (9) (10) sweetener (11) colorants emulsifier (12) (13) improver (14) anticaking agent (15) flavor enhancer (16) (17) of enzyme preparation was preparing foaming agent (18) (19) preservatives (20) spices (21) nutritional fortifier (22) other additives.