Question

What are artificial sweetening agents and food preservatives? Give one example of each.

Answer 1

Hint: Artificial sweetening agents and food preservatives are added to food for a particular purpose. Artificial sweetening agents provide sweet taste and food preservatives prevent spoilage of food.

Complete answer:
> Artificial sweetening agents are the chemicals used to sweeten food, beverage or medicine. Artificial sweetening agents are synthesized in the laboratory as they do not occur in nature. They are sweet in taste. They do not have food value as they do not add calories to our body. They do not have any harmful effect on our body. They are excreted through urine as such. In other words, they are not stored in the body. On the other hand, sugar is stored in the human body. Saccharin, aspartame, sucralose, and alitame are some examples of artificial sweetening agents. Artificial sweetening agents are useful for diabetic patients who cannot consume sugar.
> The food becomes unfit for consumption due to the process of fermentation, acidification or other decomposition of food. Food preservatives are added to food, to inhibit, retard or arrest, these processes. These processes occur due to growth of microbes. Food preservatives check the growth of microbes such as bacteria, fungus etc. Thus, food preservatives prevent the spoilage of food. Salt, sugar, vinegar, sodium benzoate, salts of sorbic acid and propionic acid are some examples of food preservatives.

Note: Artificial sweetening agents are substitutes for sucrose (natural sugar). They are several times more sweet than natural sugar. They can be directly used in processed food such as puddings, candy, soft drinks, jams etc. Food preservatives prevent the spoilage of food and retain the nutritive value of food for a long time. They prevent food from becoming rancid.