"Look" at food additives with an artistic eye.

consumers of the 21st century, many people are used to the fact that our food contains many unknown chemicals. For example, we might think of Ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid as the name of a volcano in Iceland..However, we do not always know an all-knowing thing about them. In "Food Ingredients: Visual Exploration of 75 Food Additives and 25 Foods," photographer Dwight Eschliman and author Steve Ettlinger examine the chemical ingredients of food. The two had previously worked together on a separate project on the analysis of cream cake ingredients, and this time they decided to work together on a larger project: analyzing the chemical ingredients of food. "This book is written for people who want to understand the composition of food, " they say. The two men were curious, and on their journey to recognize, photograph and explain food additives, they discovered some surprising facts: it is now very difficult to find pure high fructose syrup, for example. (Because fresh high fructose syrup was not available, Eschliman had to use samples that had not been used up in the past.) Or if you want to taste the undiluted polysorbitol-60, an emulsifying agent for egg substitutes, you won't be able to taste anything in two weeks, as polysorbitol-60 will be completely covered on your tongue. And, of course, there's diacetyl, a flavoring agent for margarine and vanilla flavors that, if concentrated, "simply smells like a skunk." In Ettlinger's view, this is not a prescription or guide that tells you which processed foods will "harm our bodies." In his introduction to the book, he writes, "We are only curious about the ingredients of food, and guess what many readers do." We want to know, 'What are the chemicals of food like?' Why put them in food? In , Ettlinger is critical of "chemical phobia" (fear of all chemicals). "All food is made up of chemicals, whether it's apples or carrots. It is therefore irresponsible to assume, without distinction, that all chemicals are harmful, frightening and irresponsible," he explained..In fact, Ettlinger still loves these additives, which have a long scientific name, especially azodicarbonamide, which you might find familiar with and made headlines last year as an ingredient in Sai Bai bread. Eschliman was amused by the pronunciation of teryty-butylhydroquinone, a preservative against corruption in vegetable oils, animal fats, essential oils and nuts. To find these long scientific names interesting is the first step in understanding them, we don't have to accept or consume every additive, but at least we should understand it. "We're not talking about avoiding food additives, we're just saying, 'Maybe it's more or less understood.'" Ettlinger said. First, they selected 75 common food additives, ranging from potassium acetyl amino sulfonate to jaundic gum, ranging from the notoriety (monosodium glutamate) to non-toxic and harmless (corn starch). At the same time, they ensured that the selected additives covered four main uses: improving the sensory nature of food

; Of course, they also want to make sure that additives are visually different. No one wants to see 75 pictures of white powder. Finally, they analyzed and explored each of the 75 additives, explaining "what they were extracted from, how they were formed, and what they could do." " so we can finally understand what the use of acetaminotic acid is. Acetaminotic acid is a preservative that naturally binds to metal elements in some foods to prevent food oxidation, such as potatoes. Acetaminotic acid also prevents the formation of carcinogens in "soft drinks and other foods containing vitamin C and sodium benzoate". The mystery is solved! Although I don't think I can read the word..In the second part of the book, the authors focus on the application of food additives, that is, what these additives can make into food..Eschliman and Ettlinger selected 25 processed foods to analyze in a similar way to food additives. They chose more natural foods, such as all-natural fresh fruit shakes, as well as classic processed foods such as Eschliman's son's favorite peach millet (farm flavor). By studying the two men, they found some startling facts: strawberries and creamy oatmeals from Guig oats, for example, did not contain their labeled ingredients, and Red Bull drinks did not contain red, blue and yellow shades. Ettlinger writes that while he and Eschliman try to choose a diet that "prefers apples and broths," he also acknowledges that when it comes to making 20 sandwiches, it's nice to be able to pick and choose processed bread at the grocery store (they analyzed Oroweat's healthy grocery bread in the book). Without food additives, he argues, "we wouldn't have the civilization we have today." Eschliman agrees, "We have a lot of food to choose from in our grocery stores, we don't have to worry about being poisoned, we don't have to worry about starving to death when the harvest is bad, and if you think it's a good thing, it's thanks to food additives that make large-scale
food processing
possible." "
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