(A) Why chemicals are added in food materials ?(B) Write name of any two food preservatives.

Question

Read the given paragraph and write answer of the following questions.

Chemicals have special importance in various field of daily life as - in foods, in soap and detergents. Chemicals are used in food materials for preservation, to enhance appeal and to increase its nutritive quality in them. Chemical substance which are added to the food materials to prevent their spoilage and retain nutritive value for long times are called food preservatives. Artificial sweeteners are those chemical compounds which are used to give sweetening effect to the food materials. Diabetic patients are advised to used saccharin in place of sugar.

(A)  Why chemicals are added in food materials ?

(B) Write name of any two food preservatives.

(C)  Why diabetic patients are advised to used saccharin. 

Answer 1

(A)  Chemicals are added to food for

(i) their preservation

(ii) enhancing their appeal, and

(iii) adding nutritive value in them.

(B)  Sodium benzoate, C₆H₅ COONa 

Salts of sorbic acid and propanoic acid

(C)  It is about 550 times sweeter than sugar on mass to mass basis. It is not biodegradable (or is not metabolized in the body) and does not have any calorific value of food. It is excreted as such in urine. It is primarily used as sweetening agent by diabetic patients.