Acidity regulators: Sweet and sour is me!

Food flavorings are indispensable in order to obtain food with good color and flavor. Acidity regulator is a kind of flavoring agent, also called acidifier. Adding acidulants to food can give people a refreshing stimulus, enhance the role of appetite, and has a certain preservative effect.

It is generally divided into inorganic acid and organic acid, inorganic acid commonly used in food is phosphoric acid, commonly used organic acids are: citric acid, lactic acid, acetic acid, tartaric acid, malic acid, fumaric acid, ascorbic acid, gluconic acid and so on.

Phosphoric acid can replace citric acid and malic acid in the beverage industry, especially for the use of citric acid should not be used in non-fruit drinks for acidulants. It can be used as pH regulator in brewing industry, and as yeast nutrient in yeast factory to promote the growth of cell nucleus. It is also used as an antioxidant in animal fats and as a clarifying agent for sucrose solutions in sugar production.

Citric acid is found in plant and animal tissues and milk, with higher content in citrus fruits. Crystalline citric acid is white transparent grains or white crystalline powder. Anhydrous citric acid is colorless crystals or white powder, odorless and without sour taste. Citric acid is the most versatile and widely used acidulant with high solubility and strong chelating ability to metal ions, and it is also used as preservative, antioxidant synergist, and pH value regulator in food in addition to being used as acidulant. Its maximum dosage is according to the normal production needs, ADI has no limitation.

Lactic acid was first found in yogurt, hence its name. Lactic acid for food (50% content) can be used as an acidifier in refreshing beverages, sour milk drinks, synthetic wine, synthetic vinegar, spicy soy sauce, pickles and so on. The kimchi and sauerkraut made by lactic acid fermentation not only have the role of flavoring, but also the role of anti-bacterial reproduction.

Malic acid, so called because of its high content in apples. Its acidity is soft and long-lasting, and theoretically it can replace all or most of the citric acid used in food and beverages, and in the case of obtaining the same effect, the average dosage is less than that of citric acid by 8% to 12% (mass fraction). In particular, malic acid is used in fruit-flavored foods, carbonated beverages, etc., and can effectively improve their fruit flavor. In the U.S., malic acid is continuously being used in new types of food. The maximum dosage is according to normal production needs, ADI does not need special regulations.

Freshness preservatives: making the seasons safe for freshness

Freshness preservatives are, as the name suggests, food additives used to keep perishable foods such as vegetables, fruits and meat fresh. Because of the preservatives, supermarkets sell ham, sausage, canned meat and other foods can be in a longer period of time to maintain its flavor; because of the preservatives, we can eat all year round from the field of long-distance transportation to the fresh vegetables, fruits.

Commonly used food preservatives are benzoic acid, butylated hydroxyanisole and dibutylated hydroxytoluene. Among them, butyl hydroxyanisole is a good preservative, no toxicity in the standard limited concentration, its maximum dosage in food to fat shall not exceed 0.2 g / kg, its dosage of 0.02% than 0.01% of the antioxidant effect increased by 10%. Butyl hydroxyanisole, as a fat-soluble antioxidant, is suitable for fat foods and fat-rich foods, and can be used under frying or baking conditions because of its good thermal stability.

In recent years, the research of natural preservatives has attracted great attention from scientists of various countries, and a large number of natural preservative products have been generally welcomed by people, such as tea polyphenols, natural vitamin E, polylysine and chitosan.

As for the fruits we buy in our daily life, experts suggest that as long as the business is the correct use of preservatives, consumers do not have to worry about safety issues.

Extend the shelf life of food

Food preservatives can inhibit microbial activity and prevent food from rotting and deteriorating, thus extending the shelf life of food. The vast majority of beverages and packaged foods that want to be preserved for long periods of time often require the addition of food preservatives. Because of their relevance to people’s health, among all types of preservatives, food preservatives are subject to the most restrictions.

China has only approved more than 30 kinds of food preservatives that are allowed to be used, and they are all low-toxicity and high safety varieties. They have been approved for use before a large number of scientific experiments, animal feeding and toxicity toxicology tests and identification, has confirmed that the human body will not produce any acute, subacute or chronic harm.

Commonly used are benzoic acid, sodium benzoate, sorbic acid, potassium sorbate, calcium propionate and so on. In recent years, preservatives in food have begun to develop in the direction of safety, nutrition and non-pollution, and new types of preservatives such as glucose, oxidase, fish protein, lysozyme, lactobacillus, chitosan, pectinolytic substances and other new types of preservatives have already appeared and have been approved for use by the state.

In fact, as long as food manufacturers use food preservatives varieties, quantity and scope, strictly controlled by the national standard “food additives use of health standards” within the scope of the provisions of the national standard, it will not cause damage to human health, people can rest assured that they can eat.

For example, in the market to see the food usually add potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate and other preservatives, the two most widely used preservatives are ingested by the human body, generally with the urinary excretion, and will not accumulate in the body.

If there are no food additives

If there are no antioxidants –
Oil-containing foods, whether natural animal or vegetable fats, or fried foods, will cause rancidity in a short period of time due to oxidation, producers can only fry and sell now, distributors have to update the shelves every day, consumers will lose their sense of security even more, and transportation of food over long distances will also become impossible.

If there is no enzyme preparation –
Chinese people eat steamed buns will not be like today so fragrant and soft and delicious, Europeans can only be like back to the Middle Ages, chewing hard bread, the earth can rely on only their stomach acid and saliva.

Without moisture retainers –
Ham sausage, sausage, canned meat will leave our table, because the loss of the original juice in the processing process to make it taste like chewing; fish, shrimp and other seafood can not let the inland people have a mouthful of food, because of refrigeration in the process of protein will be denatured, freeze-thaw loss of high; more tragic is the loss of the rehydration of the water, we can not even eat instant noodles.

Without food stabilizers –
In the hot summer we love the delicious ice cream will be in the freezer full of ice slag, food like ice, abandoned and a pity; cocoa milk, juice milk, sterilized yogurt, a variety of stirred yogurt, active milk and so on certainly can not drink, although the grassland milk, milk, milking or always have.

Without emulsifiers –
Drinks will appear strange milk, water layer phenomenon, chocolate products in the sugar is easy to crystallize, bread is not easy to keep, margarine, canned oil and water separation occurs, milk sugar, bubble gum is easy to degrease and stick to the teeth.

If there is no puffing agent –
Northern people’s beloved steamed bread will have to bear the pain, the South like the cake also had to say goodbye, the whole country ate more than nine hundred years of doughnuts can only bid farewell to the stage of history.