Additives in the food industry

Food has been sweetened for centuries; the ancients used salt to preserve meats and fish, added herbs and spices to improve the flavor of food, preserved fruit with sugar, and preserved cucumbers and other vegetables with vinegar. They are substances with or without nutritional value intentionally added to food in order to prevent alterations, maintain, impart, or intensify its aroma, color, and flavor; and modify or maintain its physical state. Preservatives, colorings, and flavors are the best known additives, but antioxidants, emulsifiers, stabilizers, gelling agents, thickeners, and sweeteners are also commonly used. A food additive is considered to be any substance or compound incorporated into a food product, and can be considered Intentional or Non-intentional. Thus, it can be said that food additives correspond to any substance present by intentional addition, or not, in technologically processed foods.