The 1958 Food Additive Amendment practically defined an additive as: A substance or a mixture of substances, other than a basic foodstuff, that is present in a food as a result of an aspect of production, processing, storage, or packaging.
The food additive definition contains an exception for substances ‘generally recognized’ as safe (known as the GRAS exception), and exception that has no parallel in the color additive definition.
Some substances, such as pesticides and packaging components, are added to foods unintentionally, and these are, of course, undesirable, and may be hazardous to health.
Because of their toxicity, their presence is closely regulated by strict government tolerance.
A food additive in its broadest sense is nay substance added to food. Legally additives are classified as direct or indirect.
The use of food additive is justified when it serves at least one of the following purposes:
*maintenance of nutritional quality
*enhancement of keeping quality or storage stability with reduction in food losses
*making the food attractive and acceptable to the consumer.
*as essential aids in food processing.
The definition of food additive
