Chemical Additives: Common Uses of Additives

Different types of food products call for different types of additives. Many foods include more than one additive to address the multiple considerations that consumers expect, and many additives perform more than one function. Often two or more additives serve the same general purpose but have slightly different characteristics that, when combined, create a synergistic effect, modifying or amplifying each other’s effects. Looking at the five applications of food additives in some detail gives a sense of the process whereby foods are designed or adapted to modern industrial opportunities.