E322
Lecithin
Lecithin is present in all living cells and is a significant constituent of nerve and brain cells.
Pure lecithin is white and waxy and darkens when exposed to air. Commercial lecithin is brown to light yellow, and its consistency varies from plastic to liquid.
Commercial lecithin, most of which comes from soya bean oil, which may be GM, contains a mixture of phosphoglycerides containing principally lecithin, cephalin and phosphatidyl inositol. Other sources are egg yolk, from where it was originally obtained, and leguminous seeds, including peanuts and maize, which also may be GM. As it can also be obtained from animal fat, vegetarians should be careful.
In cells lecithin protects the membranes and the polyunsaturated fats within the cells from oxygen attack.
As an emulsifier it lowers the surface tension of water allowing the better combining of oils, fats and water in such foods as chocolate, ice cream, margarine and mayonnaise. In bread and bakery products it increases volume and also acts as an anti-staling agent thereby extending shelf life.
In margarine it has the added advantage of preventing water leakage, so preventing spitting when frying, and protecting beta-carotene (E160a Vitamin A). In chocolate it allows a reduction in the cocoa butter content, prevents crystals forming and reduces viscosity (see E476). Soya lecithin has the same binding ability as egg yolk lecithin and can be used in place of eggs in many products. It also helps powders mix quickly and easily in milk or water.
Lecithin is also a good synergist to antioxidants in fats and oils so is often used in combination with them.
For a time it was thought that lecithin supplements could help Alzheimer sufferers but this line of research did not lead anywhere.
The sodium salt of Lactic acid (E270).
It is hygroscopic and used in such products as sponge cakes and Swiss rolls where its ability to absorb moisture helps to retain the moisture content and thereby extend shelf-life.
It is also used for its synergistic effect on other substances antioxidant effect and sometimes as a substitute for glycerol (E422).
Found in cheese, sponge cakes and Swiss rolls, ice cream, jams, jellies, margarine, marmalades and sweets.
Vegetarians should be aware that as the source, E270, Lactic acid, is a naturally occurring animal product it could conceivably be of animal origin.
The potassium salt of lactic acid (E270).
It is hygroscopic and used in such products as sponge cakes and Swiss rolls where its ability to absorb moisture helps to retain the moisture content and thereby extend shelf-life.
It is also used for its synergistic effect on other substances antioxidant effect.
Found in sponge cakes and Swiss rolls, ice cream, jams, jellies, marmalades and sweets.
Vegetarians should be aware that as the source, E270, Lactic acid, is a naturally occurring animal product it could conceivably be of animal origin.
The calcium salt of lactic acid (E270).
Particularly used in tinned fruits and vegetables where it inhibits discolouration and, because of its reaction with the naturally present pectin, forming the less water soluble calcium pectate, helps prevent the structural collapse of the food.
Improves properties of milk powders and condensed milk. Also used for its synergistic effect on other substances antioxidant effect. As well as the aforementioned can be found in jams, jellies, and marmalades.
Vegetarians should be aware that as the source, E270, Lactic acid, is a naturally occurring animal product it could conceivably be of animal origin.
The most versatile and widely used organic acid in foodstuffs, citric acid is a colourless, crystalline organic compound, belonging to the family of carboxylic acids.
It is present in practically all plants, and in many animal tissues and fluids, but it is in particularly high concentrations in lemons and other citrus juices and many ripe fruits.
First isolated in 1784 from lemon juice, by the Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele, citric acid has been used as a food additive for over 100 years.
It is normally manufactured by fermentation of cane sugar or molasses in the presence of the fungus Aspergillus niger, but it can also be obtained from pineapple by-products and low-grade lemons.
Its use as a food additive is wide and varied - as a synergist to enhance the effectiveness of other antioxidants; as a sharp-tasting flavouring; as a sequestrant in foods it combines with the naturally occurring trace metals to prevent discolouration and in wine production it combines with free iron to prevent the formation of iron-tannin complexes which cause cloudiness; in brewing to reduce excess losses of sugars from the germinated barley; to create an acidic environment to discourage the growth of certain bacteria, yeasts and moulds and in cheese making it produces a faster and more consistent method of producing the necessary acidic environment for the enzyme activity than the traditional souring by lactic acid (E270) caused by bacteria.
Because of this versatility it can be found in a wide range of products, including non-alcoholic drinks, bakery products, beer, cheese and processed cheese spreads, cider, biscuits, cake mixes, frozen fish (particularly herrings, shrimps and crab), ice cream, jams, jellies, frozen croquette potatoes and potato waffles, preserves, sorbets, packet soups, sweets, tinned fruits, sauces and vegetables and wine.
Recorded problems are that it can be a local irritant and in large amounts can cause teeth erosion.
However there have been erroneous reports that it is a major cause of cancer. It is thought that this has been brought about by misunderstanding and confusion over the word Krebs.
Citric acid is one of a series of compounds involved in the physiological oxidation of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates to carbon dioxide and water.
This series of chemical reactions, which is central to nearly all metabolic reactions and the source of two-thirds of the food-derived energy in higher organisms was discovered by the German-born British biochemist Sir Hans Adolf Krebs. He actually received the 1953 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for the discovery, and as well as being known as the tricarboxylic acid cycle (its correct name), it is also known as the citric acid cycle or the Krebs cycle.
Hence, citric acid is fundamental to the Krebs cycle and Krebs is the German word for cancer!
A dicarboxylic acid, also called dihydroxybutanedioic acid, the free acid was first isolated in 1769 by Carl Wilhelm Scheele, although, in a partially purified form tartar was known to the ancient Greeks and Romans.
Most L-tartaric acid is manufactured as a by-product of the wine industry. The sediments, and other waste products from fermentation are heated and neutralised with calcium hydroxide and then the precipitated calcium tartrate is treated with sulphuric acid to produce free tartaric acid. Can also be extracted from tamarind pulp.
Tartaric acids and the common tartrate salts are all colourless, crystalline solids readily soluble in water.
In food it is used as: an antioxidant where as a synergist it increases the antioxidant effect of other substances: for adjusting acidity in frozen dairy products, jellies, bakery products, dried egg whites, sweets, beverages, jams and preserves and wine: diluting food colours: as a sequestrant, chemically combining with undesirable oxidants and rendering them inactive: an acid in some baking powders.
Can also be found in cocoa powders, sweets and tinned asparagus, fruit and tomatoes.
Eighty per cent of ingested tartaric acid is destroyed by bacteria in the intestine, with the fraction that is absorbed into the bloodstream being excreted in the urine.
Large amounts can cause gastro-enteritis.
E375
Nicotinic acid, Niacin, Nicotinamide
Also known as Vitamin B3, a water-soluble nutrient with a key role in maintaining human health. Like the other B vitamins, it supports energy production by aiding in the metabolising of fats, carbohydrates and proteins and assists in the functioning of the digestive system, skin and nerves.
Although the human body does not store Nicotinic acid nor can it synthesise sufficient quantities, deficiency, with symptoms of dizziness, fatigue, loss of appetite, muscle weakness and skin irritations, is uncommon.
Natural sources are eggs, lean meats such as chicken and turkey breast, liver, milk and yeast although commercially it is obtained by oxidation of nicotine with nitric acid.
It can be found in bread and flour items, breakfast cereals, as well as being used in vitamin supplements.
At food additive levels it is regarded as safe but high doses can cause flushing, headaches and stomach ache in some people. Very high amounts can cause, diabetes, eye damage, gastritis, liver damage and elevated blood levels of uric acid, a cause of gout.
