Demystifying Emulsifiers as Additives through Molecular Gastronomy: A Contribution to Rise Consumer’s Sovereignty

Abstract

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, one third of food produced annually for human consumption results in food losses or wastage, which is environmentally degrading, economically unviable, ethically incorrect, and does not contribute to sustainable development. The use of additives can help prevent the waste of food that is still fit for consumption in a world where about 16% of the world’s population goes hungry. Food additives may overcome the problem of limited supply of natural ingredients, increase the shelf life of foods and simplify the complex cooking procedures. To raise the consumer’s knowledge about food additives, this work presents and explain in a simple manner some physical/chemical properties of emulsifiers, namely fatty acids esters and sucrose esters of fatty acids. Moreover, this work reviews and illustrates, recurring to recipes of molecular gastronomy, how these additives are used in food preparation to achieve and maintain certain desirable characteristics, how they contribute to obtain a better result in final preparation, and how they can be used in modern cuisine. Preparations coming from the discipline of molecular gastronomy have been chosen since they are based on laboratory related procedures and only use few ingredients, including an additive.