Dear Colleagues,
Recent years have witnessed a growing consumer demand for healthier and more nutritional food. With this in mind, the use of multiple additives (traditionally used by the food industry), both in foods of animal and vegetable origin and in the beverage industry, is normally considered by consumers to be “unhealthy”. For this reason, the trend toward the consumption of “clean label” products is increasingly important. However, the use of multiple additives during food processing to improve their technological properties or improve the shelf life of foods is generally necessary, since otherwise, it would be impossible to achieve all the characteristics and the stability that allow their commercialization. In this sense, multiple additives with technological purposes (humectants, gelling agents, acidity regulators, antifoaming agents, emulsifiers, etc.), sensory/organoleptic purposes (sweeteners, colorants, flavor enhancers, etc.) or additives to increase shelf life (antioxidants, preservatives, acids, glazing agents, sequestrants, etc.) are used in the production of all kinds of foods. Recently, and because the safety of some additives used is highly questioned, there has been a tendency to substitute synthetic additives for extracts or natural bioactive compounds. Several compounds from natural sources (vegetable, marine, or animal) have characteristics that make them perfect candidates to be used as colorants (carotenoids, betalains, anthocyanins, etc.), antioxidants (polyphenols, vitamins, peptides, etc.), antimicrobials (essential oils, terpenes, etc.), emulsifiers, and stabilizing agents (carbohydrates, proteins, fibers, etc.) and to reduce or replace synthetic additives. However, both the substitution of some additives and variations in their use can have negative effects on the quality of food.
As such, it seems clear that the use of synthetic and/or natural additives is mandatory for the beverage and food industry. Therefore, I invite researchers to contribute with original or review articles related to the analysis, application, or substitution of additives (both of synthetic and natural origin) to increase the quality of food and beverages.
Dr. Rubén Domínguez
Collection Editor
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