Additives

additives substances added to food to make it more appetizing, to preserve it, or, sometimes, to make it ‘healthier’. The term tends to be used in a pejorative sense for unwanted chemicals introduced by the food industry for purely commercial reasons; but even salt and pepper are, strictly, additives. Additives, however, are usually thought distinct from adulteration, though the dividing line (for example, phosphates added to meats to improve water retention) can be fine. And while additives are usually part and parcel of food processing, they may also be the result of public health intervention, for example, the vitamin supplementation of cereals, the addition of folic acid to flour, or of fluoride to water. Again, advocates of pure food may object that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.