People in the food industry often say that "food additives are the soul of the food industry", but negative statements about food additives are always emerging to stimulate the sensitive nerves of the public. This diametrically opposed status quo has caused consumers to worry and misunderstand the safety of food additives virtually. Are Food Additives Angels or Devils?

Food additives are synthetic or natural substances added to food to improve food quality, color, aroma, and taste, as well as to meet the needs of antisepsis, freshness preservation, and processing technology. Nutritional enhancers, food flavors, base substances in gum-based candies, and processing aids for the food industry are also included. All substances that are not listed in the "Usage Standards for Food Additives" (GB2760) are not food additives.

At present, there are about 2,000 food additives approved for use in my country, which are divided into 23 categories according to their functions. The familiar ones may be preservatives, leavening agents, spices (flavors), colorants (pigments), etc., and the less familiar ones, such as processing Additives, nutritional enhancers, etc. Among them, there are many kinds of spices, more than 1,000 kinds, and about 300 kinds except spices.

Consumers' misunderstanding of food additives is partly due to the exposure of endless violations of laws and regulations, especially illegal additives that have made food additives a lot of scapegoat. In fact, there has never been a case of health damage caused by the rational use of food additives.

The development history of food additives is accompanied by the development history of the food industry. Its main role is reflected in two aspects, one is to meet the needs of processing technology, and the other is to meet our needs for taste or nutrition.