Question

Which of the following are used as food preservatives?
A. Table salt
B. Sodium hydrogen carbonate
C. Cane sugar
D. Benzoic acid

Answer 1

Hint:Food preservatives are the substances used to prevent decay or damage to food products caused due to microbial or bacterial growth.

Complete answer:All food products or other substances have a specific shelf life i.e. a time period in which the product remains in good condition and is consumable. A microorganism or microbe is a group of unicellular organisms that is present in abundance and can divide very fast. They are present everywhere on your hand, mobile, air, water, etc. These microbes are very important and useful for maintaining the earth’s ecosystem as well as for human health. There are few microbes that are harmful and can cause serious damage to human life. Many natural components like wood, food products, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics are damaged by microbial growth. To avoid this a set of chemicals are added to them which are referred to as preservatives.
Food preservative prevents or slows down the growth of bacteria, molds, fungus, yeasts, that causes spoilage of food. Food preservatives are also used to maintain the color, texture, and flavor of food for a longer period of time. Traditionally, salt was used on meat and fishes for preservation followed by the use of sugar on canned foods. Nowadays artificial food preservatives are used which are chemicals added to food products for preservation. They are of different types: anti-microbial, anti-oxidants, etc. Few examples of artificial food preservatives are Benzoic acid, sodium benzoate, acetic acid, etc.

Hence, the correct options are options A- Table salt and D-Benzoic acid.

Note: Food preservatives also prevent the loss of certain amino acids and vitamins. Sugar is used as a preservative in traditional food preservation but cane sugar is processed sugar that is used as a sweetener.