When visiting a supermarket and filling our consumer basket, how often do we think about the benefits of purchased products? When was the last time we read the text on the packaging of yogurt or baby formula, printed in small text? And what exactly do the mysterious«Е»symbols with a digital index mean?
It must be admitted that the average person hopes that a smart and noble manufacturer will not put anything bad into his product and cares exclusively about the health of the consumer, and not about the thickness of his wallet. To be in such an illusion is not only naive, but also dangerous. Even the ancient Greek sages said: «We are what we eat». So what do we really eat? To help readers of the Bogoliuby Reproductive Medical Center website understand this issue, we are planning to publish a series of articles on the groups of food additives, which are so generously flavored with much of our favorite food.
Classification of food additives
Let’s start with the fact, that a huge group of food additives is classified as follows. These are
- food coloring (E100-199);
- preservatives (Е200-299);
- antioxidants (Е300-399);
- stabilizers (Е400-499);
- emulsifiers (Е500-599);
- enhancers of taste and smell (Е600-699);
- glazing agents (Е900-999);
- disintegrants, acidity regulators ( (Е1000-1100);
- biocatalysts and enzymes (Е1100-1105);
- modified starches (Е1400-1450);
- chemical solvents (Е1510-1520);
- antibiotics (Е700-800).
That's how much«useful» we consume, isn't it?
Food colorings
Let us dwell on the group of food colorings.. These additives dye a product that, during processing, has lost its natural color and does not look very attractive from a commercial point of view.
E100 - Curcumin, a substance derived from turmeric (Curcuma longa) - tropical plants native to India. The plant is well known in Asia as a seasoning. Chemically, it is diferuloylmethane, which is extracted with a solvent, and it is yellow-orange crystals after purification. Traditionally, curcumin dyes cotton. In India, it is used along with other spices in sauces and curry powder in other countries - in mustard, in bouillon cubes, canned soups. The permissible daily dose of turmeric for a person is up to 2.5 mg per kilogram of body weight.
