Continuing with our discussion about food additives; other additives include colorings, flavor enhancers, emulsifiers, stabilizers and thickeners. Here, colorings need special mention, as they are also very widely used. Wherever you see colored food (color away from natural color), it is most likely containing coloring agents. Again, not all of them are harmful.
3. Coloring Agents: The ones which are commonly used include beta carotene, caramel, carrot oil, citrus red (#1), dehydrated beets, FD&C colors, Blue # 1,2; Red # 40; Yellow # 5,6. They are used in many processed foods, especially sweets and products marketed for children, soft drinks, baked goods, and confectionery items, such as frosting, jams, and margarine. They are also used in bologna and other processed meats, as well as to color the skin of oranges and certain other fruits. They make food look more appetizing by meeting people’s food color expectations; for example, turning cherry Jell-O red 
. Among them, we have already discussed about the potentially harmful colorant Yellow #5.
4. Flavor Enhancers: Like disodium guanylate; used in canned meats and meat-based foods to improve their flavor; hydrolyzed vegetable protein used in mixes, stock, and processed meats; monosodium glutamate (MSG), which is used in Chinese food, dry mixes, stock cubes, and similar to other of its family members in canned, processed, and frozen meat. We have also discussed about monosodium glutamate in this post.
5. Emulsifiers, Stabilizers, and Thickeners: They are all used to improve texture and consistency of processed foods by increasing smoothness, creaminess, and volume. They hold in moisture and prevent separation of oil and water. Commonly used agents include Carageenan, Cellulose, Glycerol, Guar gum, Gum arabic, Lectin and Pectins. Excessive pectin can result in bloating.
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