Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

This thesis was performed as assignment from Fazer Food Services. The aim was to survey which food additives that were present in the products in the quotation list of one of their suppliers to the Education and Nursing segment. The aim also was to perform a theoretical analysis of these food additives and to make recommendations which food additives are acceptable and which should be excluded from the products in the future. The recommendations are not published in this report, for more information Fazer Food Services can be contacted. Food additives which have already been approved are regarded as safe according to the safety evaluation methods available at the time of approval. However, consumption of them may not be a hundred percent risk free. Phosphates are allowed to be used in order to increase water holding capacity of meat products. This may lead to consumers feeling they have been cheated since water then can be added to the product, increasing the weight of it. Choosing for example KRAV or organic products is one way of avoiding food additives that may be uncertain when it comes to risk assessments. Such organizations (but not EU organic) also prohibit the use of the phosphates E450-E452 and nitrite and nitrate E249-E252. No connection between meat content and content of phosphates E450-E452 in the products in this study could be found. The content of phosphate could possibly be linked to type of meat product. Sausages, smoked meat products, bacon, kabab products and pre-cooked pork and beef often seemed to contain phosphates while minced meat did not. The study also showed that if the goal is to keep the numbers of additives down, the price paid for some of the products may be increased. From this study, it was also found that similar effects as those achieved from food additives may be achieved using other methods such as deep freezing or sugar in high concentrations, which can be used for conservation.