Additives

Food additives are used to enhance flavor, improve nutritional quality, prolong shelf life, assist in preparation or manufacture, and to add visual appeal to food products. The food additives that would likely be used in the average restaurant pastry kitchen are generally limited to those already present in purchased ingredients. A high quality operation selling freshly prepared goods every day is unlikely to have a shelf full of chemicals and preservatives. This is not to say, however, that all items classified as food additives are artificial or unfavorable. Anti-caking agents are found in powdered cake or custard mixes and some flours, and preservatives may be present in purchased “halfway-products” such as candy fillings and nut pastes. Probably the only food additives used in preparation on any regular basis are food colorings, flavoring extracts, and thickening agents.