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Sodium Sulfite Food Additive
Sodium Sulfite a Food Additive
Food additives are chemicals added to food during their preparations to
obtain an effect. This effect can range from addition of coloration, flavor to the
food, or it can cause food to have a prolonged shelf life, as in the case of
preservatives.
Usually food additives can be divided into 2 types, direct additives and
indirect food additives. Direct food additives are those that are added to the
food intentionally to food e.g. flavoring agents, artificial colors etc. An exact
quantity of the additive is measured and added to the product and exposure
to the public of the additive can be measured. Indirect food additives are
those additives that are not intentionally added to food, but do become
components of it as is the case of packaging materials, plastics wraps paper
packs, laminates etc. The estimation of the exact quantity of compounds
which have indirectly been released into the foods and are now exposed to
humans for consumption can not be straightforwardly calculated.
(Estimating
exposure to direct food additives)
One such material which is added to foods as an additive is sodium sulfite. It
is manufactured on an industrial scale by passing sulfur dioxide through
caustic soda, which causes in the end sodium sulfite crystals to form. This is
slightly unstable compound and releases sulfur dioxide gas slowly into the
atmosphere. This ability provides it with the properties of an Antimicrobial
Agent, Antioxidant and a Preservative. Different preparations are made of this
product, food grade sodium sulfite and the non food grade preparation which
is used in the paper industry as a bleaching agent and the photo industry for
developing solution preparations. (Sodium
sulfite grades)
Before any food can be allowed to be used as an additive it has to be proven
as safe by the Food and Drug Agency (FDA) for its use. Concerning Sodium
Sulfite, the FDA states that it can be used as a preservative as it is generally
considered as safe for the desired purpose, but it should be prepared with
good manufacturing practices and used only as is required in quantity and no
more. It has no quantitative limitation put on it by the FDA, if it is used as a
preservative. If the purpose use is as a boiler additive, then the FDA prevents
its use on meats fruits and vegetables, which have to be presented as raw or
fresh any food considered to be a vitamin B1 source. (Food
Additive
Status List)
Food additives are taken for granted in many ways. The reason fruits are
available all year round, the reason baked goods stay fresh for so long, and
we owe it all to additives and preservatives. If we were to stop using all
preservatives, most of the snacks we consume would cease to exist and
availability of food products would become limited to certain areas and for
only a small amount of period in a year only. Additives are for five main
reasons.
To maintain consistency as is done with artificial foods.
To prevent spoilage. Use of preservatives prevents food
from ruining early. Fungi, bread mould are prevented from
growing as preservatives create an inhospitable
environment for them. Antioxidants additives keep fruits
fresh and prevent bad taste from developing in baked
goods.
To maintain or to fortify the nutritional value. This is usually
done with breads cereals which are usually fortified with
iron, or with milk which is fortified with calcium and vitamins.
To enhance the flavor and color. This is done with chips
snacks or flavored drinks.
To
control the pH of the food. This is necessary as in
preparation of baked foods like biscuits or cakes. (Food
additives)
Foods additives are very much integrated into our lives without us even know
knowing about it. They help in the proper preparation of food, its availability,
and ability to stay fresh for long. They act as anti microbial agents, anti
oxidants flavoring agents, bleaching agents, preservatives, fortifying agents
and stabilizing agents. Although their availability has provided us with
immense opportunities but it all comes at a price as well. Most of the
additives are chemicals. The FDA approves additives by labeling them either
safe for general consumption, or substances allowed limited use and
substances which require further approval from FDA before use.
(Food
Additive Status List). This is done as certain additives are hazardous to
health in large quantities. Sulfites are shown to be mutagenic towards
bacteria although no proof of these effects has been reported in humans the
risk still persists. It is reported to increase the incidence of acute asthma and
in some people cause gastro intestinal symptoms if present in food products
greater than trace amounts. Other additives have the ability to cause chronic
ill effects to excessive consumption of the food for a long period of time.
Amongst its many uses, sodium bisulfite is primarily used in almost all wine
making industry to prevent oxidation of grape juice to vinegar. Secondarily, it
is used as an anti microbial agent and as a food color preservative in the
canned food industry by preventing oxidation and browning.
In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) uses 2
statutes to regulate the licensing and usage of pesticides and fungicides etc.
These are the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) or
the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act (FFDCA). The FFDCA sets the
rules and regulations concerning tolerance limits of pesticides, byproducts of
fungicides and of food additives. The EPA, when registering a pesticide,
approves these products after a risk versus benefit analysis. However, there
is clause in the FFDCA which bans use of food additives which has even a
small risk ill effect in humans; therefore it sets a zero risk benchmark for the
industry to meet. This is called the Delaney's clause. This is problematic for
the EPA since it creates 2 different standards for the industry to meet. The
FIFRA analyses the risk versus benefit aspect whereas the FFDCA which has
the Delaney's clause has a zero risk standard. So some a food additives or
pesticides meet the FIFRA standard do not meet the FFDCA standard. This
has created obstructions in the smooth functioning of the EPA as far as
approval and re registration of pesticides and food additives is concerned.
Finally the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) a Non Governmental
organization has looked into this matter and made the following
recommendations. It states that there should be one universal standard for all
approvals, processed or raw food, old or new pesticide. It also states that
rather than having a zero risk policy, the EPA should adopt a negligible risk
policy which should be acceptable both, the FIFRA as well as the FFDCA.
(Delaney's paradox)
References/ Bibliography
DiNovi, Michael J. and Kuznesof, Paul M. “Estimating Exposure to direct food
additives and chemical contaminants in the diet.” U.S. Food & Drug
Administration Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition Office of Pre market
Approval (Aug 2006) http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/%7Edms/opa-appa.html
“Food Additives” FDA/IFIC Brochure. Jan.1992. U. S. Food and Drug
Administration http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~lrd/foodaddi.txt
“Food Additive Status List” CFSAN/Office of Food Additive Safety. 2006. U.S,
Food and Drug Administration. 21 Dec 2006
http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/opa-appa.html
“Sodium sulfite grades.” Sodium and Potassium sulfites. 2006. BASF The
chemical company. 19 Dec 2006. http://www.inorganics.basf.com/
“The Delaney Paradox and Negligible Risk Fact Sheet.” Pesticide
Management Education Program. Jan.1991. Cornell University Cooperative
Extension
http://pmep.cce.cornell.edu/issues/delaney-negrisk.html