Food Additives on the Label

Where are the additives on the label and how are they indicated?

In the list of ingredients that appears on the label, the additives are always found at the end of the list; in fact, this list is drawn up ACCORDING TO A DECREASING ORDER of quantity and, given that the additives are always contained in reduced doses, they are at the bottom.

On the label (the latter is modified and the NutrInform label is now also available), the additives can be indicated either by their name or by the European abbreviation. The European abbreviation is made up of a number preceded by a letter which represents the category to which it belongs. For example, ascorbic acid, which is a preservative identified by the wording E300, can be indicated in 2 ways:

• Preservative: E300
• Preservative: ascorbic acid

Both of these methods are correct, but in fact the average consumer rarely has satisfactory information on these additives.

Requirements for food additives

Given that it is necessary to try to limit as much as possible the consumption and use of voluntary additives, preferring in any case the compound naturally present in one or more foods of common and widespread use, the voluntary food additive must satisfy some requirements satisfactorily :

• The use of the additive must be NECESSARY, ie without it it would not be possible to obtain the food or avoid large waste; the additive temporarily replaces a non-existent or unsatisfactory technology to meet particular needs. This is the case, for example, of hydrogen peroxide for milk in hot areas, where there is no practical or economical possibility of cooling the milk; the same applies to sulfur dioxide in the same hot areas, where it would be very difficult to block unwanted fermentations in the grape must; Benzoic acid, especially for economic reasons, is permitted in several countries as an antimicrobial agent for carbonated drinks. Similar cases, with more or less wide justification, are the use of formic aldehyde and urotropine in dairy, antioxidants in the industry of fatty substances, and of acetic and propionic acids in bread dough, necessary to avoid the harmful effects of the unwanted flora of yeast.

• The intake of the additive, at normal and lawful levels, must not cause man, even if consumption lasts for a lifetime, any risk of toxicity; this toxicity must be carefully evaluated, in the short and long term, and also with regard to the risks of cancer, mutagenesis, teratogenesis, before it is even authorized.

• The compound that causes cancer, teratogenesis or mutagenesis risks in any experimental animal (fly, mammal ...) or microorganism (Salmonella ...), must be banned from food use.

• The maximum acceptable dose per day (ADI or ADI) of the compound to be authorized must first be established.