Unit 7. Food chemystry / Пищевая химия

1. Master words and word combinations:

enzymes– энзимы, ферменты

flavors – вкусоароматические добавки

to encompass – включать

natural food - натуральные продукты

dye – пигмент, красящее вещество

salicylate – салицилат

artificial – искусственный

emulsifier – усилитель

vinegar – уксус

2. Read and translate the following text into Russian.

Food chemistry is the study of chemical processes and interactions of all biological and non-biological components of foods. The biological substances include such items as meat, poultry, lettuce, beer, and milk as examples. It is similar to biochemistry in its main components such as carbohydrates, lipids, and protein, but it also includes areas such as water, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, food additives, flavors, and colors. This discipline also encompasses how products change under certain food processing techniques and ways either to enhance or to prevent them from happening. An example of enhancing a process would be to encourage fermentation of dairy products with microorganisms that convert lactose to lactic acid; an example of preventing a process would be stopping the browning on the surface of freshly cut Red Delicious apples using lemon juice or other acidulated water.

Food coloring is added to change the color of any food substance. It is mainly for sensory analysis purposes. It can be used to simulate the natural color of a product as perceived by the customer, such as red dye like FD&C Red No.40 (Allura Red AC) to ketchup or to add unnatural colors to a product like Kellogg's Froot Loops. Caramel is a natural food dye; the industrial form, caramel coloring, is the most widely used food coloring and is found in foods from soft drinks to soy sauce, bread, and pickles.

Flavor in food is important in how food smells and tastes to the consumer, especially in sensory analysis. Some of these products occur naturally like salt and sugar, but flavor chemists (called a "flavorist") develop many of these flavors for food products. Such artificial flavors include methyl salicylate which creates the wintergreen odor and lactic acid which gives milk a tart taste.

Food additives are substances added to food for preserving flavors, or improving taste or appearance. The processes are as old as adding vinegar for pickling or as an emulsifier for emulsion mixtures like mayonnaise. These are generally listed by "E number" in the European Union or GRAS ("generally recognized as safe") by the United States Food and Drug Administration.

3. Interview your group mates what the worst or best chemical in food industry is. Report back to the class.

4. Render an article written by the student of ASTU.

E.G. Bikchuraeva

To the question of food chemistry problems

Three kilograms of chemicals are used by the average person annually. Dyes, emulsifiers, sealant, thickeners are present now everywhere. There is a question: why producers add them in food and how these substances are harmless?

Serial number of taste

Nutritional supplements — it not the invention of our high-tech century. Salt, soda, spices are known to people from time immemorial. But here original blossoming of their use began after all in the XX century — century of food chemistry.

Having won recognition "improvers" were put on a stream. Sausages became gentle-pink, fruitcakes magnificent not hardening. . . "Youth" and appeal of products provided additives which use as dyes, emulsifiers, sealants, thickeners, amplifiers of taste and a smell, preservatives …They are designated by a letter "E" (an initial letter in the word "Europe"). It isn't necessary to be frightened their presence the majority of names at the correct observance of a compounding of harm to health doesn't bear, exceptions are made only by what can cause individual intolerance in certain people. After the letter followed number. It allows to be guided in variety of additives being according to Uniform European classification a code of concrete substance. For example, E152 — absolutely harmless absorbent carbon, E1404 — starch, and E500 — soda.

The E100-E182 codes designate the dyes strengthening or restoring color of a product. The E200-E299 codes — the preservatives raising a period of storage of products at the expense of protection of them from microbes and bacteriophages. The same group included the chemical sterilizing additives used at maturing of wines, and also disinfecting substances. E300-E399 — the antioxidants protecting products from oxidation. E400-E499 — stabilizers, thickeners, emulsifiers. E500-E599 — pH regulators. E600-E699 — fragrances.

Food additives at numbers E700-E899 don't exist yet; these codes are reserved for new substances.

Problem

Not all food additives used in the industry are well studied. Typical example — sweeteners, artificial substitutes of sugar: sorbite (E420), aspartam (E951) and others. Long time physicians considered them absolutely safe for health and appointed to those who suffer diabetes. However, in the last two decades it became clear that saccharin is carcinogen. In any case, laboratory animals consuming it had cancer, however, only if ate saccharin in the volume comparable to their body weight. And here a large amount of sorbite (about 10 grams and more) can cause gastrointestinal insufficiency and be the reason of diarrhea. Besides, sorbite is capable to aggravate a syndrome of the angry thick gut and violation.

The real furor made the report of the British professor Jim Stephenson published in the spring of 2003. Five-year-old twins Michael and Christopher Parker became object of research of scientists from University of Southampton (Great Britain). Within two weeks Michael wasn't allowed to use in Smarty’s and Sunny Delight candy food, drinks of red Irn Bru and Tizer color, and also the aerated drinks and other products with chemical additives. Mother of twins Leann Parker so characterized results of experiment: "For the second day I saw changes in Michael's behavior. It became much more obediently, it developed sense of humor, he willingly talks. In the house stress level decreased, in the relations between boys there is less than aggression, they don't fight almost and don't quarrel". Scientists reported about influence of food additives on behavior of teenagers from Australia also. They defined that the propionate of calcium (E282) added in bread as the preserving substance can lead to strong mood swings, violations of a dream and concentration of attention at children.

In April, 2005 the international group of researchers under the leadership of Malcolm Grivs declared that food additives (dyes, seasonings and preservatives) are the reason of 0,6-0,8% of cases of the chronic small tortoiseshell.

Monosodium glutamate

In 1907 the employee of Imperial University Tokyo (Japan) Kikunaye Ikeda for the first time received white crystal powder which strengthened flavoring feelings at the expense of increase in sensitivity of nipples of tongue. In 1909th he is patented the invention, and the monosodium glutamate began victorious procession along the world. Now inhabitants of Earth annually consume it in number of over 200 thousand tons, without reflecting on consequences. Meanwhile in special medical literature appears more and more data that the monosodium glutamate negatively influences a brain, worsens a condition of patients with bronchial asthma, and leads to destruction of a retina of an eye and glaucoma. On a monosodium glutamate some researchers lay blame for distribution of "a syndrome of the Chinese restaurant". Here already some ten years in various corners of the world fix the mysterious disease which nature is still not clear. At absolutely healthy people temperature unexpectedly increases, the person reddens, there are a breast pains. The only thing that unites victims — all of them shortly before an illness visited the Chinese restaurants which cook are inclined to abuse "tasty" substance. Meanwhile, according to WHO data reception more than 3 grams of a monosodium glutamate a day "are very hazardous to health".

I think that it`s necessary to take into account and that owing to the psychology of people often can't refuse that is harmful but it is tasty.

In conclusion I want to say today without food additives to mankind not to manage as they are capable to provide 10% of an annual gain of the food without which Earth population simply will appear on the verge of starvation. It is another question that they have to be the safest for health. Health officers of course care of it but also all the rest shouldn't lose vigilance attentively reading that is written on packing.