超过300种食品添加剂被批准在澳大利亚使用。
他们有多安全？
你想要添加剂吗？
最后更新时间：2014年8月7日
来自读者的反馈告诉我们食品添加剂是消费者关注的主要问题。我们看看澳大利亚允许的可疑食品添加剂的最新研究 –我们对那些最好是避免的做出了判断。
个人和消费者权益团体经常警告某些食品添加剂，告知它们是非安全并且应该避免。另一方面，食品制造业和监管机构表示，有充分的理由使用添加剂- 例如，防止食物中毒或延长食品的储存寿命。
添加剂和加工食品搭调的 – 你很少只得其一。你吃的加工食品越多，你吃的添加剂就越多。所以避免它们的最简单方法主要是食用新鲜和只有轻度加工的食物（如番茄罐头和冷冻蔬菜）。但你不能轻易避免食用添加剂- 即使是包装好的面包也常常有几种。对于大多数人来说，少量的膳食添加剂通常不是问题。
食品添加剂的安全性证据经由澳大利亚新西兰食品标准局（FSANZ）在批准使用前进行审查，但有些人仍然认为某些经批准的食品添加剂会导致健康问题。
争论性的添加剂有关建议来自以下主要类别：
- 添加或恢复食物颜色的颜色（100范围内的代码编号）。
- 防腐剂（200系列）有助于防止微生物引起的食物变质。
- 减缓或防止食物氧化变质的抗氧化剂（300系列），例如当油脂变质时。
- 人造甜味剂（包括900系列内的强力甜味剂，以及诸如山梨糖醇，420的增量甜味剂）赋予甜味，比糖更少的千焦耳。
- 风味增强剂（主要在600系列内）改善食物的风味和/或香气。
其他关键添加剂
- 乳化剂（大多数在400系列内）有助于防止油和水混合物（例如蛋黄酱）分离。
- 稳定剂（大多数在400系列内）保持物质在冰淇淋等食物中的均匀分散。
- 增稠剂（包括代号最多在400系列内的植物胶，以及代号在1000系列内的改性淀粉）将增稠奶油等食品的粘度提高到所需的稠度。
Over 300 food additives are approved for use in Australia.
Just how safe are they?
Would you like additives with that?
Last updated: 07 August 2014
Feedback from our readers tells us food additives are a major concern for consumers. We look at the latest research into questionable food additives permitted in Australia – and give our verdict on the ones you’d do best to avoid.
Individuals and consumer advocacy groups are often warning about certain food additives, saying they’re unsafe and should be avoided. On the flip side, the food manufacturing industry and regulators say there are good reasons to use additives — to prevent food poisoning or extend a food’s storage life, for example.
Additives and processed food go together — you rarely get one without the other. The more highly processed foods you eat, the more additives you’ll eat too. So the easiest way to avoid them is to eat mainly fresh and only lightly processed foods (such as canned tomatoes and frozen vegetables). But you can’t easily avoid eating additives altogether – even packaged bread often has several. And a small number of dietary additives usually isn’t a problem for most people.
The safety evidence for food additives is reviewed by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) before they’re approved for use, but some people still argue that certain approved food additives lead to health problems.
Controversial additives
The additives in question are from the following key categories:
- Colours (code numbers in the 100 range) that add or restore colour to foods.
- Preservatives (200 range) that help protect against food deterioration caused by micro-organisms.
- Antioxidants (300 range) that slow or prevent the oxidative deterioration of foods, such as when fats and oils go rancid.
- Artificial sweeteners (including intense sweeteners in the 900 range, and bulk sweeteners such as sorbitol, 420) impart a sweet taste for fewer kilojoules than sugar.
- Flavour enhancers (mainly in the 600 range) that improve the flavour and/or aroma of food.
Other key additives
- Emulsifiers (mostly in the 400 range) help prevent oil and water mixtures (in mayonnaise, for example) from separating.
- Stabilisers (mostly in the 400 range) maintain the uniform dispersal of substances in foods like ice cream.
Thickeners (including vegetable gums, which have code numbers mostly in the 400 range, and modified starches, with code numbers in the 1000 range) increase the viscosity of foods like thickened cream to the desired consistency.
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