Food Additives Research in China
The food additives industry plays an important role in the modern food industry as a pillar industry. The development of its research and application marks the status of the national food industry in the world. The widespread attention for food nutrition and safety has indicated that the establishment of a legitimate development and utilization for food additives is a global major issue. Unfortunately，the difference between "food additives" and "chemical additives" has not been well understood for a long time due to the incorrect information from the reported food safety incidents. A perceptive and comprehensive review of food additives research was present here. Summarizing the current status and future trends. Suggestive recommendations were also provided focusing on the key point and developmental direction. This review may guide the stable and healthy development of the food additives industry，and catalyze the formation of the industrial pattern of food nutrition and health. It may also improve the development of the health care system on a national level and promote the construction of a harmonious society.
Food additives are "chemically synthesized or natural substances added to food to improve food quality and color, flavor, taste, as well as for preservation, freshness and processing process needs. According to the different functions, food additives are divided into 23 categories, mainly including acidity regulators, anti-caking agents, defoamers, antioxidants, bleaching agents, bulking agents, gum-based confectionery in the base agent, coloring agents, color protectors, emulsifiers, enzyme preparations, flavor enhancers, flour treatment agents, film agents, moisture retention agents, camping agents
Nutrient strengthening agent, anti-corrosion agent, stabilizer, solidifying agent, sweetener, thickening agent, food flavor, processing aids for the food industry, and others. Food additives play a pivotal role in the modern food industry, and their main functions are: to improve and enhance the color, flavor, taste, and texture of food and other sensory indicators; to maintain and improve the nutritional value of food; to prevent food
To prevent food spoilage and extend the shelf life, to maintain food safety; to increase the variety of food - color, flavor, and shape, to improve the quality and grade of food; to improve food processing conditions; to meet the needs of different groups of people, adjusting the nutritional structure. The food additives industry not only for the Chinese food industry
The food additive industry not only provides reliable technical support and guarantee for the development of China's food industry and catering industry but also has become the driving force and source of promoting its rapid innovative development.
In the past 20 years, with the support of Chinese policies and intensive research and development by researchers, the development of food additives has made significant progress, and a variety of natural food additives with special functions have been used in the food industry.
1. Food additives research and development status
China GB2760-2011 "Food Additive Use Standard" approved the use of more than 2,600 species, including 1,868 kinds of edible spices, more than 200 kinds of nutritional fortification, processing aids (including enzyme preparations) 163 kinds, 55 kinds of gum sugar base agent, 345 kinds of other. It is understood that the new "National Food Safety Standard for Food Additives" (GB 2760-2014) was officially implemented on May 24, 2015. GB2760-2014 compared with GB2760-2011, the main changes are: the addition of the former Ministry of Health and the Health and Welfare Commission in recent years issued in the food additive-related announcements on food additives; food nutrition fortification and gum-based confectionery in the list of base agent substances and their ingredients adjusted by other relevant standards to provide Provisions; some of the food additive varieties and use of the provisions have been adjusted; revised the varieties of processing aids for the food industry and the use of provisions; also on the varieties of flavors and fragrances and the use of provisions have been adjusted.
The global food additive industry is growing at a high rate of 4% to 6% per year, and China's food additives have also maintained the momentum of rapid development. 2013 China's food additive industry total output of 8.85 million, up 7% year-on-year; sales of about 87 billion yuan, up 5% year-on-year. According to statistics, China's food additive production enterprises are about 1,500, about 500 enterprises above the scale, sales of more than 3 billion yuan about 20 enterprises, listed companies at home and abroad about 10; the industry employs about 500,000 people. In recent years, the state has become increasingly strict regulation of food additives, although the total consumption of some impact, for those who have the technology, brand, and market sales of formal enterprises have increased. The confusion of some products on the market has been greatly improved, and the production and operation of enterprises are increasingly standardized. Objectively limit the production of counterfeit products and non-standard small enterprises, thus purifying the market environment, standardizing and promoting the development of the food additive industry.
2. Food additive trends
First, the rapid development of the modern food industry has prompted food additives Food additives demand is strong. In the past 30 years, China's total food industry output value average growth rate of more than 10%, in 2014, China's total food industry output value has reached 12 trillion yuan 2014, which will strongly drive the development of the food additives industry.
Second, China's residents' dietary patterns have changed, promoting food Additives industry innovation and development. People are simply pursuing quantity to quality, and there is an urgent demand for deep processing. This directly on the development of food additives innovation and safety of new requirements, the amount of less, good effect of biological agents and natural products The share of production and application gradually increased.
Third, the population's awareness of nutrition and health has gradually increased, promoting the natural food additives to develop rapidly. With the improvement of living standards, residents nutrition and health awareness gradually increased, the esteem for healthy food is increasing. High. As the prevalence of non-communicable chronic diseases increases worldwide, natural food additives that can improve food quality and have special functions Food additives will have broader development and application prospects.
Fourth, China's traditional food industrialization process to speed up the promotion of new Special food additive research and development. With the pace of people's lives The acceleration of the pace of life and lifestyle changes, to meet China's traditional food industrialization and modernization of food additives will have more room for development. There is an urgent need to research and develop new specialized food additives.
Organic food, green food, functional food, health food has become a new growth point for the food industry in the world. Closely related to the raw materials from animals, plants, and microorganisms by the extraction and processing of natural food additives, such as natural antioxidants tea polyphenols, natural sweetener licorice extract, natural pigment lycopene, natural flavor vanillin, etc. by the international market is generally favored. Some chemically synthesized food additives such as synthetic coloring cream-yellow have been explicitly banned, which are natural, safe food additives that have left a huge space for the development of.
With the increasing standard of living, people's concern for food safety concern is also increasing, the variety of food additives, the quantity, safety, and other requirements. For new varieties of Food, additives should have strict health toxicological evaluation and other means to ensure technical necessity and safety.
3. Food additive industry development focus and outlook
China's biological species are rich in resources and can be used as a source of production for many natural food additives. Many functional ingredients of natural origin may not only be good antioxidants, preservatives, etc. but also have good biological activity and are good "health factors". For example, corn, sorghum, pepper, radish, and other bulk agricultural products, for the development of natural food coloring (corn yellow pigment, sorghum red pigment, etc.) provides a rich source of raw materials; tea, rosemary, and other medicinal food plants to explore new antioxidants tea polyphenols, rosemary alcohol, and through cultivation, seed introduction and screening, to obtain high antioxidant activity. We have been searching for natural biological preservatives from plant and animal sources, such as lysozyme, chitosan, polysaccharide, and so on. These need further research and development.
Although there is a wide market demand for natural food additives, the often due to resource constraints and the related technological development requires a certain process, inexpensive synthetic food additives in a longing for a longer time. However, for natural source additives production, it is important to improve the existing production pattern with low-carbon and green processing technologies. The production pattern will be of great significance. It is understood that the preparation of sodium alginate from kelp
sodium alginate, due to the backward technology, a large amount of acid and alkali is used in the production, resulting in poor product quality, low The product quality is poor, the selling price is low, and the pollution is serious. Preparation of different gel strengths The preparation of carrageenan with different gel strengths is one of the competitiveness of the industry, but currently, it is also prepared by strong The preparation of carrageenan with different gel strengths is one of the competitiveness of the industry, but currently, it is also prepared by strong alkali method, which causes serious pollution. Enzymatic preparation technology has been initially proved to be effective, and the removal of special harmful components in natural products such as water-soluble
The removal of pesticide residues in the key technology to break the technical trade barriers and improve the competitiveness of the products. The key technology is to break the technical trade barriers and improve the competitiveness of products.
