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Option 9.6 - Preservatives
and Additives: 5. Government regulations permit the use of specified substances
Syllabus reference (October 2002 version) |
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| 5. Government regulations, as part of food legislation which is published in the Australian Food Standards Code, permit the use of specified substances as part of food | Students learn to:
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Students: |
Extract from Senior Science Stage 6 Syllabus (Amended October 2002). © Board of Studies, NSW.
[Edit: 29 May 09]
Prior learning: Science Stages 4-5 syllabus: Outcome 4.8.5 a) and b).
Background: Australia has very good legislation to protect its citizens from products that may harm them. This could be in the form of microbes that spoil food and the toxins these microbes release. On the other hand many people are concerned about the overuse of preservatives and additives. Are they really added to protect us and make food better for us or do they just give one company a competitive advantage over another company?
gather, process, analyse and present information from first hand investigations and/or secondary sources to identify those products which are not allowed to include any preservatives or additives and discuss the reasons for this legislation
Standard 1.2.3 is a Mandatory Warning and Advisory Statements and Declarations, warning about foods that some people are allergic to.
- To gather first hand information go to the supermarket and look at the labels on food products on the shelves. Look for labels that indicate the product doesn't have preservatives and additives. Write down the wording used and compare it with different brands of the one product and for different products.
- Talk to the salesperson in the local fruit shop. Do they claim that the fruit and vegetables they sell have no preservatives and/or additives?
- To gather secondary information use a search engine on the Internet. Enter words such as pure foods, legislation, Australia.
- Current
legislation
concerning substances added to food, Food Standards Australia
New Zealand . Scroll down to page 12 to see an example (chiili powder) where
it explains about food additives not being allowed.Point (d) on page 8 also
explains when food additives can't be used. - Some more information on restrictions to food additives
Regulation of Organic Foods in Australia and New Zealand Biological Farmers
of Australia
- Process this information by cross referencing the data.
- Discuss the reasons for this legislation.
YOU NEED TO BE AWARE THAT PEOPLE AND COMPANIES CAN PUT INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET WITHOUT IT BEING CHECKED BY GOVERNMENT AUTHORITIES, THERFORE DON'T ALWAYS BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU READ.
examine
the role of 'negative labelling' as a form of advertising including
contains
-no additives
-contains no cholesterol
-free from preservatives
-no added sugar
Contains no additives
- This advertising exists as some people do not want to buy processed food with additives in it. Some processors decided to provide these people with the product that they wanted: that is a product free of additives. However it is becoming more and more difficult to provide food with no additives at all as even foods that are natural such as fruit may have chemicals used to aid in ripening as well as being sprayed by insecticides while the fruit is growing.
- One reason for this demand
was that there are people who have special needs such as:
- those with food allergies or food sensitivity. These people though are often sensitive to the food, such as egg or milk (see lactose intolerance below) and not the additive;
- people whose intestines don't absorb food properly such as those with Coeliac disease;
- lactose intolerance; or
- people with metabolic disorders such as diabetes.
- If there was no labeling
telling them whether additives were added they would have to buy only natural,
unprocessed food. Find more information about food
additives No additives or preservatives lead label, claims: Mintel, France
Another good site is Food additives, Which ones should you avoid? Choice, May 2008
Other people are just skeptical of additives and prefer their food more natural.
Contains no cholesterol
- Some people have high blood pressure and have to be very careful to keep their cholesterol levels low. It is important that this label is correct so that these people don't accidentally raise their cholesterol levels and therefore risk ongoing health problems,
Free from preservatives
- It was believed that most preservatives were harmless but the preservative sulfur dioxide may cause difficulties in breathing or other allergic reactions in a few people. These people need to be advised if this preservative is present. Also people should be able to buy preservative free foods if they wish.
- With further study more and more preservatives appear to possibly be harmful.
No added sugar
- Many parents are concerned about the amount of sugar in children's diets, especially the damage this sugar will do to their children's teeth. Sugar is also a carbohydrate and excess sugar may contribute to children putting on weight. Other people just like food that is not so sweet. With the label 'No added sugar' people can choose to buy food without sugar added.
discuss the use of the words 'juice' and 'drink' as prescribed by the Australian Food Standards Code for non-alcoholic beverages
- The word 'juice' refers to natural juice or reconstituted juice that is the normal concentration of that fruit juice. It can have some preservatives added to it and may have sugar added but these have to be listed on the label. It can be with or without the pulp of the fruit.
- Fruit drink means a non-alcoholic beverage containing fruit and/or fruit products and other foods except alcoholic beverages. (FSANZ definition).
discuss the use of codes by the Australian Food Standards on labels as alternatives to the names of preservatives and additives
- A reason to use codes is that the code is shorter to put on a label and
there is sometimes more than one name for a particular additive.Some information
can be found at
Food Additives Food Standards Australia New Zealand . Other information
on this web page might also be useful.
- This system standardises food additives in all of Australia and New Zealand and is used by the rest of the world except the United States of America.
assess the need for control and labelling of additives and preservatives
- It is essential that
additives and preservatives are controlled and labelled as consumers have
the right to know what is in food they are buying. For some people it is a
matter of human rights to be aware of what you are eating but for other people
it could be life or death as there are certain additives that cause adverse
reactions in some people. If this reaction is a narrowing of the bronchioles
they could die from lack of oxygen. A fact
sheet about additives is provided by the Food Standards Australia New
Zealand.
gather, process, analyse and present information from first hand and secondary sources to identify allergic responses to food and cosmetic substances, the cause of the response and the treatments and controls
- Gather first hand
information on allergic responses by surveying people. You could survey classes
in the school. Work out what questions you will ask to get the best information
that can be collated easily. Some questions could be:
- What is your name, gender and age?
- Do you have an allergy that you are aware of?
- What are you allergic to?
- What is the allergic reaction that you have?
- Do you know the specific substance that causes the reaction?
- Is there a treatment or control for the reaction? (eg can you be desensitised? How?)
- You could ask a question about ethnicity to see if certain groups are more likely to have specific allergies.
- If very few students have allergies you could ask students to interview their family members.
- Gather secondary information by looking on the Internet. Enter words such as food, allergies, cosmetics, skin rash, breathing difficulties.
- Process the information to see if it appears to be accurate or if some students are making up their answers.
- Collate the data to see if there are any trends. Are some allergies more common in young children? In girls (or boys)? In people from a particular background?
- Do foods cause more allergies or do other substances like cosmetics or chemicals around the house such as cleaning products?
- Present your information with graphs and/ or tables to show visual representations of the results. If possible include photographs of some symptoms.
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