For example, the low calorie sweetener, aspartame, is a direct additive that is intentionally added to puddings, soft drinks, yogurt, and many other foods. An indirect additive becomes part of the food in very small amounts during processing, packaging, or storage.
Q. What are direct and indirect food additives?
Overview of Food Ingredients, Additives & Colors
Table of Contents
- November 2004; revised April 2010.
- Direct food additives are those that are added to a food for a specific purpose in that food.
- Indirect food additives are those that become part of the food in trace amounts due to its packaging, storage or other handling.
Q. What is an example of an indirect food additive?
Indirect additives become part of the food in very small amounts during the processing, packaging, or storage of the food item. Examples of this additive include cornstarch added to powdered sugar to prevent lumping and leavenings to make baked products rise.
Q. Why is packaging considered an indirect additive?
Indirect additives are substances used in the processing, packaging, holding and transporting of food. These additives have no functional effect in the food, but may be reasonably expected to become components of food or to affect the characteristics of food.
Q. What is considered indirect food contact?
Indirect Food Additive – In general, these are food additives that come into contact with food as part of packaging, holding, or processing, but are not intended to be added directly to, become a component, or have a technical effect in or on the food.
Q. What are carcinogenic food additives?
Chemicals that are intrinsic constituents of foods, such as hydrazines in mushrooms, may also be carcinogenic. Certain unavoidable contaminants in foods, such as aflatoxin B1 and polychlorinated biphenyls, have been found to be carcinogenic in long-term toxicological studies.
