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Food additives - Food preservatives

Food additives are any substance or mixture of substances that directly or indirectly modify the physical, chemical or biological characteristics of a food. Food additives must be innocuous by themselves or through their action; their use must be justified for technological, sanitary, nutritional or psychosensory reasons and must meet the requirements established by the current food code.


An important example of additives are preservatives for food, since the main cause of deterioration of food substances is the attack by different types of microorganisms (bacteria, yeasts and molds). The problem of microbial deterioration of food has obvious economic implications, both for manufacturers (deterioration of raw materials and products made before their commercialization, loss of brand image, etc.) and for distributors and consumers (deterioration of products after of its acquisition and before consumption). It is estimated that more than 20% of all foods produced in the world are lost by the action of microorganisms. Biotec S.A. has launched a proprietary line of food preservatives.