Describe two antimicrobial intentional food additives.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Foods can go bad in many ways. One way is by becoming contaminated with microbes that cause foodborne illnesses, a hazard that justifies the use of antimicrobial agents. The most widely used antimicrobial agents are ordinary salt and sugar. Salt has been used throughout history to preserve meat and fish; sugar serves the same purpose in canned and frozen fruits and in jams and jellies. Both exert their protective effect primarily by capturing water and making it unavailable to microbes.
Other antimicrobial agents, the nitrites, are added to foods for three main purposes: to preserve color, especially the pink color of hot dogs and other cured meats; to enhance flavor by inhibiting rancidity, especially in cured meats and poultry; and to protect against bacterial growth. In amounts smaller than those needed to confer color, nitrites prevent the growth of the bacteria that produce the deadly botulinum toxin.
Nitrites clearly prevent food spoilage and bacterial contamination, but their use has been controversial. During the curing process and in the human body, nitrites can be converted to nitrosamines. Some nitrosamines are known to cause cancer in animals, but evidence is inconclusive in humans. In fact, limited evidence suggests that nitrites may actually be beneficial to human health. The USDA and FDA regulate and monitor the use of nitrites in foods and beverages.
Another food additive used in processed meat and poultry products—such as sausages, hot dogs, and bologna—is a mixture of viruses known as bacteriophages. Bacteriophages destroy the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes, thus protecting consumers from the potentially life-threatening foodborne illness listeriosis. These additives are included in the ingredients list on food labels as a “bacteriophage preparation.”