Food additives
Substances added to industrial foods to improve shelf life, texture, taste or appearance, identified by an E number in the European Union.
The EU authorises nearly 330 additives (according to the French journal Prescrire). They are classed by function:
- Colours (E100-E199): colour
- Preservatives (E200-E299): shelf life
- Antioxidants (E300-E399): preventing rancidity
- Emulsifiers and thickeners (E400-E499): texture
- Flavour enhancers (E600-E699): e.g. E621, glutamate
- Sweeteners (E900+)
A fresh angle: most additives are « cosmetic ». They only serve to make the product more appealing (colour, texture), not to make it healthier or even to preserve it. We are therefore paying a health « toll » for industrial aesthetics.
An additive can have several functions at once: antioxidants improve preservation but also protect colour and taste. This versatility sometimes makes the NOVA classification blurry.
Not all additives are dangerous: some are natural (E300 = vitamin C, E160 = carotene). The problem comes from certain controversial additives (nitrites E250, some azo dyes, sweeteners such as aspartame) and above all from the cocktail effect, as the interactions between several additives are little studied.
The practical approach: the longer the list of additives, and the more unfamiliar E numbers it contains, the more suspect the food. Favour short lists.