Food Additives and Health 食物添加劑與健康论文.docVIP

Food Additives and Health 食物添加劑與健康 Prof. Susanna S. T. Lee Department of Biochemistry Environmental Science Programme lee2022@cuhk.edu.hk Objectives: This lecture intends to introduce some common types of food additives and their specific functions and importance in the production and preservation of food products. The potential health risks of consuming these food additives, and the current legislations in the HKSAR governing the use of food additives will also be discussed. Summary: Food additives have been used for centuries to improve the quality (e.g., tastes, color, and shelf-life) of food products. Food additives are chemicals, other than the basic food component, intentionally added to food during production, processing, storage, and/or packaging to produce a desired effect. Today, more than 2000 different additives are being used in foods and there has always been some concern regarding the potential health risks of consuming these additives in foods. In the following table, the specific functions, potential health risks and the HKSAR legislations regarding the use of some common food additives are summarized. Food additives Examples Functions Health concerns Regulations Flavor enhancers 調味增添劑 Monosodium glutamate 穀氨酸單鈉 (MSG) 味精 Modify the taste of natural and synthetic flavor Chinese Restaurant Syndrome Classified as GRAS ADI not specified Artificial sweeteners 人造糖,代糖, 人工代糖, 增甜劑, 甜味劑 Synthetic, non-carbohydrates: Saccharin 薩克林, 糖精, Cyclamate 環磺酸鹽, Aspartame 阿斯巴甜, 阿斯伯特, 阿斯巴特 天冬胺酸代糖, Acesulfame-K 醋磺內酯甲 乙?舒泛 Provide low calorie, sweetened foods for consumer groups with special dietary needs Metabolite of aspartame induces mental retardation in Phenylketonuria (PKU) patient 代謝性先天缺陷苯丙酮尿的病人 Aspartame has been linked to brain dysfunction Food adulteration (artificial sweeteners) regulations 食物攙雜(人造糖)規例 Coloring agents 色素 Natural (10%) Synthetic (90%): Tartrazine 酒石黃, 檸檬黃 Impart desired color to food and restore lost color Allergic reaction