学术英语论文——食品添加剂的优缺点Merits and Demerits of Food Additives

1、Merits and Demerits of Food AdditivesAbstract: Food additive is a double-edged sword. It has merits and demerits. Food additives have such merits as preventing deterioration of food, making food more attractive and delicious, promoting the development of food industry. However, it also has such deme

2、rits as excessive addition of food additives Illegal addition of inedible substances. Therefore，it is necessary to use food additives appropriately. I.Introduction With the development of science, more and more food additives are added to food to preserve flavor or enhance its taste and appearance s

3、o that we can find " find additives" everywhere, such as from any bottle of drink or a bag of snacks at hand. But what is food additive? In Article 99 of Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China，food additive means any synthetic or natural substance used to improve the quality

4、, color，fragrance，flavor of food，and used to add to the food or put together with the food for corrosion proof，keeping fresh or processing technology requirements.As we all know, every food is made up of thousands of chemicals and more than 90 percent of food additives come from compounds that were

5、originally found in nature. And from the above definition，we can know that food additives can make foods more attractive，delicious，have better taste and flavor，and easier for preservation. However, some people food additives not only have merits but also have demerits, because the problem of food se

6、curity is more and more prominentIn order to properly deal with merits and demerits of food additives，we will make brief introduction to merits and demerits of food additives，and study how to use food additives appropriatelyII. Merits of food additivesIn generally，all foods on the market contain foo

7、d additives more or less. And for some consumers, they often take food additives as harmful chemical additives. Obviously, it is wrong. Because more than 90 percent of food additives come from compounds that were originally found in nature. Even it is good for our heath. So we should clearly realize

8、 that scientific and proper use of food additives does not harm our body. 2.1 Preventing deterioration of food As we all know, it is a long process from production，sales，consumer purchase to eating of foods. It is a feasible and effective method to use food additives to prevent deterioration of food

9、. That is because preservative can prevent food rotting resulted from microorganism, extending shelf life of foods.And antioxidant can prevent oxidation and deterioration，make foods more stable and preservable. Whats more, food additives can prevent enzymatic browning and non-enzymatic browning of s

10、ome foods, especially fruits and vegetables. 2.2 Making food more attractive and delicious With the improvement of living standard, people start to pursue the better enjoyment. So people no longer eat for hungry only，and now, they care about color, taste, and flavor of foods more. Therefore, food ad

11、ditives are added to food to preserve flavor or enhance its taste and appearance. Application of colorant，color fixative, and bleaching agent can change appearance color of foods and make foods more attractive; Use of flavoring can make foods more appealing in smell and taste; Use of emulsifier and

12、thickener can beautify appearance of foods and make foods more pleasing. With the help of these food additives, foods can be more attractive and delicious 2.3 Promoting the development of food industry There are less kinds of food in ancient times than nowadays. That is because of the appearance of

13、food additives, which increasing varieties of foods and enhancing convenience of foods. Therefore, with the development of food additives, more and more kinds of food will be created. People will also have more choices, which will lead to the competition of food industry. And the competition will pr

14、omote the development of food industryIII. Demerits of food additives In recent years, Food accidents occur frequently in recent years. Such as " lean meat" , " poisonous milk powder" , " Sudan red" , and " ripener" . Merits of food additives are obviousSo how

15、 about the demerits of food additives? 3.1 Excessive addition of food additivesAs for some of food additives, they can improve food quality and extending the shelf life. However, they are harmful for people if they are added excessively. So it is very important for us to control over their applicati

16、on. For example, excessive intake of D-sodium erythorbate ( antioxidant) will lead to a series of intestines and skin diseases，while excessive intake of sodium nitrite ( coloring agent) may benumb vasomotor center，respiratory center，and peripheral blood vessel Unfortunately，there are many cases of e

17、xcessive use of food additives. Deep-fried twisted dough sticks and deep-frieddough cakes use excessive alum (leavening agent). Nevertheless, the alum contains aluminum，while excessive residue of aluminum will lead to disorder of nervous system of children and will contribute to occurrence of degene

18、rative brain disorder. 3.2 Illegal addition of inedible substancesAs we all know, some Chemicals are not food additives. However, they are used as food additives. For example, Sudan red may be added to chilli powder and foods containing hot pepper, which is a carcinogen. And illegal addition of ined

19、ible substances in foods is varied: protein concentrate and melamine may be added to dairy products; pigment green may be added to tea; Auramine may be added to soyfood; poppy shell may be added to hotpot seasoning; potassium bromate may be added to wheat powderIV.Appropriate use of food additives 4

20、.1 Using food additives in the standard In National Food Safety Standard Standards for Uses of Food Additives ( GB2760 2011) ，there are provisions of scope，maximum level and usageprinciple of more than 2000 existing food additives The Food Safety Law implemented on June 1st，2009 makes more than 80%

21、food additives have product standard. Illegal use of food additives is criminal act and should be struck at strictly in compliance with laws. Thus, we should use food additives in strict compliance with laws and the usage of food additives beyond the scope is not allowed. 4.2 Making laws to constrai

22、nt people Because some harmful substances are cheaper than food additives, so as for some people who only care about their benefits and do not care about others heath. They usually replace the food additives with the harmful substances. Therefore, it is very important to making laws to constraint them, making them afraid. Such as execute by shooting and so on. V.ConclusionFrom the above analysis, it can be known that food additiv