Gallery: What Additives Look Like Before They End Up in Your Food
Dwight Eschliman/Regan Arts01XX-Corn group-FNL
If you’re eating a processed food, chances are it includes at least one ingredient derived from corn—subjected to acid treatments and various biological tweaks to break the kernel down into different starches and sugars. Here, we see cornstarch, modified cornstarch, maltodextrin, dextrose, corn syrup, and high-fructose corn syrup...but all the possible derivates of corn number in the hundreds.
Dwight Eschliman/Regan Arts0236-Lycopene-FNL
A close structural relative of beta-carotene, lycopene is the stuff that gives paprika, pink grapefruit, watermelon, and tomatoes their hue. Only the molecule derived from tomatoes is allowed as a colorant in processed foods, though, typically extracted by soaking leftovers from juice or sauce in a solvent and boiling it off.
Dwight Eschliman/Regan Arts0308-Azodicarbonamide-FNL
Azodicarbonamide shot into the spotlight last year when it was demonized as the so-called “yoga mat chemical” and forced out of breads at Subway by a small, vocal group of food activists. Bakers love it for a reason: It strengthens dough and lightens the final product by helping to keep gas inside as bread bakes—the same reason it works as a foaming agent for the rubber in those yoga mats.
Dwight Eschliman/Regan Arts0441-Mono- and diglycerides-FNL
These special types of fats, called mono- and diglycerides, act as emulsifiers—the glue that binds fatty molecules in food to water, allowing chefs (and industrial food processors) to make creamy sauces, peanut butters, and frostings. These waxy flakes and beads are made by separating vegetable oil fats into their constituent parts, including glycerin, which is heated into a slurry with vegetable oil and an alkali, then chilled in a cold rotating drum.
Dwight Eschliman/Regan Arts0519-Chlorophyll-FNL
Chlorophyll, the molecule that gives spinach and grass their green hue, is surprisingly difficult to prepare for use in processed foods—so much so that it didn’t become a food ingredient almost until the turn of the century. Before it makes it into your chewing gum and mint chocolate chip ice cream, it needs to be extracted with harsh solvents. And because it oxidizes quickly, it’s usually treated with copper or put in oil-soluble mixes so it doesn’t turn brown.
Dwight Eschliman/Regan Arts0604-Annatto-FNL
When you think of cheddar cheese, what color do you see? Bright orange, right? That’s thanks to annatto, a colorant that also can function as a mild spice—it’s what gives Spanish rice its characteristic flavor and color. Annatto not quite doing it for you? Beta carotene is the other yellow colorant of choice. It shows up naturally in eggs, butter, and carrots, but it also exists in the form of a reddish-brown liquid, usually derived from crude palm oil.
Dwight Eschliman/Regan Arts0743-Monosodium glutamate-FNL
Everyone’s favorite food additive scapegoat, monosodium glutamate, has my favorite crystal structure: a negatively-charged glutamate ion paired with a positively-charged sodium, creating these long, rectangular shards. It shows up naturally in some of nature’s best foods, but the industrial stuff is made by fermenting sugar and starch with a special bacteria.
Dwight Eschliman/Regan Arts0849-Polyglycerol polyricinoleate (PGPR)-FNL
A combination of castor oil and glycerin, polyglycerol polyricinoleate is an emulsifier used in lots of chocolate applications, keeping the fats and oils in molten chocolate mixed in so the final product feels smooth. It also helps control the viscosity of thin chocolate coatings on some of your favorite candies.
Dwight Eschliman/Regan Arts0955-Red 40 and Yellow 5-FNL-02
Unlike annatto and lycopene, whose precursors are already deeply colored, the artificial dyes Red No. 40 and Yellow No. 5 start with a combination of grey and white powders, including nitric acid and tartaric acid. Those are mixed with petroleum byproducts, neutralized with lye, and sprayed in a mist onto burning-hot walls that immediately dry the mixture into these vibrant powders.
Dwight Eschliman/Regan Arts1058-Shellac-FNL
Shellac, also known as confectioner’s resin or candy glaze, is a colorant and preservative made out of—hold on to your hats—a resinous excretion called lac, released by the insect Laccifer lacca. The bugs eat tree sap and process it, secreting a waterproof tube of resin that producers harvest and process to use as a natural plastic for candy and other foods that need a thin, protectant waxy coating.
