Technology, Fortification and Additives

Added for a reason

Read the ingredients on almost any packet and you will find things that are not the food itself. None of them is there by accident. Each one has a job: it stops the food spoiling, keeps it from separating, stops its fat going rancid, makes it look or taste the way people expect, or adds nutrients to fill gaps in what people eat. Every one of those fixes also has a cost or raises a concern. So the question to ask of anything added to a food is always the same: what problem does it solve, and what does it cost? Answer that, and a long list of additive names becomes one idea.

Words for added ingredients

Five terms this topic is built on.

What job does it do?

Decide which kind of job each additive does. You have three lives.

Fortification: for and against

Adding nutrients during processing helps some people and worries others.

Fortify the flour?

A government asks millers to add a nutrient to all bread flour. Select the TWO likely results.

• People who never think about nutrition still get more of it
• Someone who also eats other fortified foods may get more than they need
• People will no longer need a varied diet
• The bread will now count as unprocessed

Reading a label

Take a fruit yoghurt and read its ingredients one by one, asking the same question each time: what job is this doing? The fruit and milk are the food itself. A thickener gives it a spoonable body rather than a runny one. A sweetener may be there so the pot tastes sweet with less sugar. If the label says it contains live cultures, those are probiotic bacteria. Anything with an E number has been approved for that job. A good answer names each added ingredient by its job, not just by its name.

Which problem does it fix?

What does the label mean?

A cereal bar label says it contains a type of fibre that feeds the helpful bacteria already living in the gut. Which kind of ingredient is that?

• A prebiotic
• A probiotic
• A preservative
• An emulsifier

Name it, then say what it does

Think of a builder adding a damp-proof layer to a wall. Saying "there is a layer" earns nothing. Saying it stops water rising into the bricks, and adds to the cost of the build, is the whole point. Answers on added ingredients work the same way. Name what was added, say the problem it solves in that particular food, then give one cost or concern. Two named examples, each with a job and a trade-off, beat a long list of names.

Fill in the additive jobs

Adding nutrients to a food that did not have them, or that lost them in processing, is called _____. Substances that slow the growth of microorganisms so food keeps longer are _____. Fats are stopped from turning rancid by _____. In a sauce, oil and water stay mixed with the help of _____.

From problem to label

Put the steps a manufacturer takes when deciding to use an additive in order.

• Spot the problem with the product, such as a short shelf life
• Choose an additive whose job fixes that problem
• Check it is approved for use, with an E number
• Test that the product still looks and tastes right
• List it in the ingredients on the label

Build the trade-off

Assemble a balanced sentence about additives.

Find the two slips

A student wrote five statements. Tap the TWO that are wrong.

• Emulsifiers help oil and water stay mixed.
• Fortification removes nutrients from food.
• Prebiotics are live bacteria added to yoghurt.
• Antioxidants slow down fats going rancid.
• Colourings can replace colour lost in processing.

Advise the food company

A food company asks for help with four products. Decide what each one needs.

• A fresh fruit juice turns brown and loses its bright look soon after the bottle is opened. Which job does it need?
• Customers want a lower-sugar fizzy drink that still tastes sweet. What do you suggest?
• A salad dressing separates into an oil layer and a vinegar layer on the shelf. What does it need?
• A parent asks whether a fortified breakfast cereal means their child no longer needs fruit and vegetables. What is the fair answer?

Weigh up what is added

Weigh up the use of additives and fortification in processed food. Explain the jobs they do, and discuss their advantages and disadvantages.

• Two additives, each with its job in a named food
• What fortification is and who it helps
• One concern about additives and one about fortification
• Where probiotics or prebiotics fit in
• Your overall judgement