Food additives, refers to the "good" food quality and color, aroma and taste, as well as for preservation and processing needs and added to the food of chemical or natural substances.

As a result of the rapid development of the food industry, food additives have become an important part of the modern food industry, and has become an important driving force for technological progress and scientific and technological innovation in the food industry. In the use of food additives, in addition to ensuring that it plays its due function and role, the most important thing is to ensure that food safety and hygiene.

In order to standardize the use of food additives, to ensure the safety of food additives, the National Health and Family Planning Commission in accordance with the "People's Republic of China *** and the State Food Safety Law" of the relevant provisions of the development and promulgation of the "National Standard for Food Safety - Standard for the Use of Food Additives" (GB2760-). 2014). The standard specifies the varieties of additives that are allowed to be used in food, and details the scope of use and the amount of use.

Standard Definition

The definition of food additives varies from country to country around the world, and the Joint Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) Committee on Food Legislation defines food additives as follows: a food additive is a food additive that is intentionally added to food in small amounts generally in order to improve the appearance, flavor and organization or storage properties of the food.

According to this definition, food fortification for the purpose of enhancing the nutrient content of food, such as dietary fiber, trace elements, vitamin B12, oligofructose, taurine (often added to functional beverages), L-carnitine (fat loss, weight loss, muscle building antioxidant), etc., should not be included in the scope of food additives.