College chemistry was a while ago but every now and then trying to read a food label propels me back to class. I tend to shop at the more natural stores, not because I want to spend more money, but rather to avoid most of the marginal ingredients that end up in our food. Patients that come in to see me know I have a wide range of food packages in my office. So, I decided to go through some of my labels and list the more common food additions. I listed them in an ABC format for easy reference. Directly below the ingredient is its function and then its source of origin.
Artificial Flavor:
Mimics natural flavors in foods
Made in a lab from molecules or substances called “esters”..and yes they can be made from coal and petroleum! Artificial flavors undergo even stricter safety evaluations than natural flavors.
Cellulose Gum or Gel
Improves texture; Thickener; Replaces fats
Most are made from the woody parts and cell walls of plants. Technically, since the body doesn’t absorb them, they are referred to as ‘dietary fiber’ on a food label but they have NO redeeming value in the body.
Carob Bean Gum
Thickener; Replaces fats
Made from the seeds of the carob tree.
Carrageenan
Thickener; Replaces fats; Stabilizer
Made from seaweed. There is ongoing controversy as to its safety. Stay tuned.
Citric Acid
Flavoring; Emulsifier¹
Produced through the fermentation of many foods that include citrus fruits, corn, beet sugar, molasses, or wheat.
Glucose Syrup
Thickener; Sweetener; Humectant²
Made from corn.
Guar Gum
Thickener; Replaces fats; Emulsifier; Stabilizer
Made from guar beans.
Locust Bean Gum
Thickener; Sweetener
Made from the seeds of the carob tree.
Maltodextrin
Adds texture
Made from corn, potato, or rice.
Modified Food Starch
Stabilizer; Thickener; Anti-binding agent
Made from wheat or corn.
Mono & Diglycerides
Emulsifiers
Made from seed oils
Natural Flavor
Mimics the flavor of foods if the actual food is missing an ingredient (ex. chocolate flavor that has no cocoa in it)
Typically created from anything that is edible but are also made in a lab, like artificial flavors.
Pectin
Thickener; Gelling agent
Found in the primary cell wall of plants.
Polydextrose
Bulking agent
Synthetic product made by adding corn sugar (dextrose) and sorbitol (a sugar alcohol) together.
Polyglycerol polyricinoleate
Emulsifier; Thinner
Made from mixing glycerol and fatty acids. Found in salad dressings and used a lot by candy makers to replace cocoa butter.
Propylene Glycol
Humectant; Stabilizer; Preservative; Homogenizer³
Synthetic product chemically made by the reaction of propylene oxide (derived from petroleum products) with water. Has applications in many industries.
Soy Lecithin
Emulsifier; Homogenizer; Dissolves powders; repellant
Made from soybeans; used for smoothing food textures and prevents foods from sticking (ex. oil in spray cooking cans).
Xanthan Gum
Stabilizer; Thickener; Improves texture
Sugar secreted by the bacterium, Xanthomonas campestris; found in corn, wheat, dairy or soy.
Wheat Gluten
Adds elasticity to bread dough
Wheat gluten is wheat with its starch component washed out. When dried and milled to a powder and added to ordinary flour dough→ improves a dough's ability to rise and increases the bread's structural stability and chewiness.
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¹Emulsifiers help ingredients from separating. (Ex. mixing oil and water in a recipe→ eggs are added as emulsifiers to keep the mixture as one.
²Absorbs water in a product.
³Keeps liquid particles uniform in size so they blend better.