EFFECTS
OF FOOD ADDITIVES AND PRESERVATIVES ON HEALTH
ABSTRACT
Food additives
are organic substances that
are intentionally added
to food in small quantities
during production or processing to improve
the organoleptic quality
(colour, flavour, appearance,
taste and texture) of the food. Food
preservative is a class of food additive that help to prevent food spoilage by
preventing the growth and proliferation
of pathogenic microorganisms like Cloridium spp, Bacillucereu and S aphylococcu
aureu. This can be achieved by bringing
down the pH of the food so as to make
the environment unfavourable
for these microbes.
This report aims
to review the
available literature on the
various effects of
food additives and
preservatives on man as a
result of the indiscriminate uses
by food producers and
food consumers. Many
effects like food
allergies, food intolerance, cancer,
multiple sclerosis (MS),
attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder (ADHD), brain damage, nausea, cardiac disease among
others have been reported.
