What do you know about Caramel colours?

What does call attention of consumer?

The color of your food! The aspect and the smell as well! 

What do food industries do to improve it?

Add food additivies!

There are thousands of types of food additivies, but today I will clarify just one that has been the center of controversy: Caramel colours.

It is widely used in food industry. Around 80% of colour added in food and drink is based on caramel. It is found in pop drinks, beers and sauces. 

The caramelisation is a natural process by heating food carbohydrates in the presence of selected catalysts. The first step is the dehydration reaction and then a polymerisation process begins. The final product is a mixture of different complex molecules of different molecular weight. In case of indutrial process, it is used glucose, fructose or sucrose as a starting material, with controlled heating and the addition of some catalysts.

There are four types of Caramel which will be describe below. The letter E is used in Europe and the roman numbers are used in America.

E150a, Caramel I, Plain Caramel, Caustic Caramel: 

Produced using carbohydrates under controlled heating. To improve the caramelisation process it is added acids, alkalis and salts. No sulphites and ammonium compounds are added.

It is the basic process. The difference between the other types of Caramels is the catalysts added. 
Let´s see: 

E150b, Caramel II, Caustic Sulphite Caramel:

Acids or alkalis could be used, but is added sulphite compounds as sulphurous acid, potassium sulphite, potassium bisulphite, sodium sulphite and sodium bisulphite. No ammonium compounds are used.

E150c, Caramel III, Ammonia Caramel:

Acids or alkalis could be added, but in this case is added ammonium compounds as ammonium hydroxide, ammonium carbonate, ammonium hydrogen carbonate and ammonium phosphate. No sulphites compounds are used.

E150d, Caramel IV, Sulphite Ammonia Caramel (the darkest!):

In this type of Caramel, both sulphite or ammonia are added during the process. Example of compounds:sulphurous acid, potassium sulphite, potassium bisulphite, sodium sulphite, sodium bisulphite, ammonium hydroxide, ammonium carbonate, ammonium hydrogen carbonate, ammonium phosphate, ammonium sulphate, ammonium sulphite and ammonium hydrogen sulphite.



As you can see, for more intense colour more chemicals are added! The whole of catalits is participate the reaction accelerating it, and should be found totally separate from the final product. However, it is possible to find some trace of these compounds cited above.

Why are they widely used? 

Because they show great stability to pH, heat, light and oxidation.

And what is the Aceptable Daily Intake?

JECFA (Joint Expert Committe on Food Additives) set ADI: 

Caramel I _ "not specified"
Caramel II _ 0-160 mg/Kg body weight
Caramel III _ 0 - 200 mg/Kg body weight
Caramel IV _ 0 - 200 mg/Kg body weight

Now my question is: 

Do you really need it? 

I don´t think so... 

The most common Caramel type found is Class IV. Then, I suggest you to read the labels. You don´t need it and you can avoid it. It´s not a simple "melted sugar". 

Take care!

Barbara Francisco ;)

References:

1.A. P. DAMANT, Food Standards Agency, UK, Food Colourants. Charpter 8.
2. A. Kendrick , LycoRed Limited, UK, Natural food and beverage colourings. Chapter 2.
3 Oreste V. Brenna. Antioxidant Capacity of Soft Drinks. Charpter 6.

The chemistry of sausages!

Do you like sausage ? Salami ? Meat ? Ham?

And do you know what come together with them ?

Food additives ...

Widely used to prolong life´s food sodium nitrite/nitrate is added into these products. 

For centuries humans has been preserving their food with the use of salts in order to prevent growth of certain types of bacteria that cause spoilage. Indeed, in presence of this salt, bacteries find a dry environment and die. 

Sodium nitrite delays growth of anaerobic bacteria, such as Clostridium botulinum, avoiding the rancidity and also prevents the release of bad odors during storage of the products.

But is it possible to know if is there nitrite/nitrate in certain product when you buy?

Yes! Pay special attention to the color. If it is pink is because there is nitrite/nitrate in your sausage, salami or ham.

And why is pink?

I'll explain :

Basically sodium nitrite/nitrate ( NaNO2/ NaNO3 ) is converted to nitric oxide (NO). This oxide combines with myoglobin , the protein responsible for transporting oxygen and gives the natural red color of meat . The result is the formation of a complex called nitric oxide myoglobin that keeps this red color longer.

According to the Committee of Experts on Food Additives ( JECFA - " Joint Expert on Food Comitte Aditives ) FAO / WHO ( Food Agriculture Organization / World Health Organization) were reassessed IDA limits to nitrite and nitrate ions. The acronym IDA is defined as the amount of a substance expressed in mg/kg body weight , that can be ingested daily for all of your life, without causing harm to human health .

Therefore, the IDA values established for sodium nitrite are 0 to 0.07 mg/kg body weight and nitrate ions limits are 0 to 3.7 mg/kg body weight. According to the literature a lethal dose of nitrite was 330mg/Kg body weight.

The problems caused by excessive intake of nitrite and nitrate is the possible formation of methemoglobin and the formation of N-nitro compounds.

Little complicated these names, isn´t?

Let´s understand it:

These ions are absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract (stomach and intestine system), but nitrate is rapidly eliminated by renal system (kidney) . Nitrite combines with hemoglobin , the blood that carries oxygen cell by oxidation of ferrous ion to ferric ion . When this happens there is the formation of methemoglobin ( MetHb ) preventing oxygen transport. However, for our lucky, another enzyme called NADH-Methemoglobin reductase, which is found in red blood cells, converts them back into hemoglobin .

As you can see , this process is reversible . At low concentrations. Higher levels , this reduction system becomes saturated, and therefore raises blood levels of MetHb.

It is noteworthy that in children under 3 months of life, this process is very fast. Only a few grams is necessary to intoxicate a baby. So, all mothers who is reading this text, it would be advisable not eat so many products like these, in the period of breastfeeding.

Normally nitrite is eliminated by urine, which can be observed by its color change when you eat some hot dogs, for example. However, when nitrite poisoning occurs, the most common symptoms are: abdominal pain , dyspepsia, headaches and weakness. There are studies that relate intake nitrosating compounds (nitrate and nitrite) and intragastric formation of N -nitrosamines with gastric, liver and esophageal cancer.

There are some products at grocery stores without these preservatives, but it is better for you avoid them anyway. But if it's too hard do not resist a sausage or a hot dog take some following precautions :

1 ) Read the label. Sodium nitrite sometimes appears with the acronym E250 and E251 for sodium nitrate. Try to identify them and reduce their consumption ;

2 ) Increase your intake of antioxidants and garlic foods because they have chemicals that inhibit the formation of nitrosamines ;

And boil the product. So you pull out of some ammounts of preservatives and helps kill remaining bacterias.

Hope it helped you! It is just a tip!

You are what you eat! ;)

Barbara Francisco
Industrial chemistry


References :
DUARTE , MT Evaluation of the sodium nitrite content liguiças frescal and baked kind sold in the state of Rio de Janeiro . 2010.
SCHUDDEBOOM , Nitrates and Nitrites in LJ foodstuffs . 1993
Epley , R.J ; ADDIS , P. B. ; WARTHESEN JJ Nitrite in meat . Animal sceince.1992

Five reasons for workout

Hi!!!!

Today I´m not tell you something so scientific. Just a little.

Some people ask me why I go to the gym training, although I´m skinny person. 

When I answer, I always give one of the reason, however the truth is: you and me don´t need a reason ore excuse to go to a gym or do some exercise.

When I was younger I was a dancer. I used to do ballet, jazz, street dance classes. I think I danced everyday, and I felt wonderful. Due to academics commitements, I had to stop and I didn´t find a way to continued. It was a mistake.

For all those years I didn´t nothing so important that i could call exercise. I just avoid elevators and try walk all day avoiding using cars (and I don´t have a car until today hehehe). Thus, year by year I just feel more stressful, little sad, without strenght to lift anything.

One day, in august of 2012, when I back to my home in Brazil, I was felling so stressful and angry that I remember what a good friend told me one day: "when I feeling very frustated and angry I go to the gym and lift a lot of weights."

Ok, it´s very good when you have a gym around your neighborhood. "The closest gym from my house it was 25 Km. What I can do now?" _ I thought. 

Well, I opened my laptop and searched. And found! A lot of examples of exercises that I could do by myself like a beginner. 

The results were awesome! I did not do heavy training, however I was moving. I could control my stress, my ansiety and close in good way my thesis. I found balance anyway.

I live this way in around one year. In august of 2013 I decrease the workouts, and stopped. I didn´t have place to do my workouts. Consequence: imsonia. I just slept 2 days in a week!

When I back to Ottawa, I back to exercises too. More intensity and more commitment. 

My mind about what I eat improve too. Everybody says to me that I can eat everything. It´s not thuth. In 2006 I did a blood exam and my cholesterol was high. Over the limit, even I didn´t get any weight. So, I can not eat everything, like you. I was eating two packages of cookies per day while I studing for finals exams at college. It was a surprise.

The fact is, you don´t need excuse or big reasons to move. Exercise is a right that everybody should do. And as a chemist, I suggest you try eat clean always is possible. Be healthy is not only a life style it´s a necessity. If everybody or the most of people eat clean, the food industry is going to stop product bad and unhealthy stuffs.

But if you want some reasons why I go to the gym, I´ll give you:

1) I can sleep 6 nights per week;

2) My menstrual cramps decrease significantly (Endorphin worked here);

3) My mood is better (Serotonin);

4) I found some muscles that I thought that I don´t have (reactions happened);

5) I don´t feel tired when I have to walk ro stopbus. 

And... I enjoying and feeling my body cleanear. 

Most of people when begin trainings wait the outside improvements, but I tell you, the better changes caming from inside. What happen outside is consequence from irreversible inner change.

I hope you enjoy too.

;)

Barbie