Your Health

Additives

Food additives are used safely at appropriate levels to enhance the flavour, taste and appearance of what we eat.

The history of additives

Some of the first additives ever used were salt, sugar and vinegar. In fact, many substances used as food additives also occur naturally, such as vitamin C or ascorbic acid found in fruit, and lecithin (found in egg yolks), soya beans, peanuts and maize.

Now, in the 21st century, food additives play an important part in our food supply making sure that our food is safe and meets our dietary needs. They can be used to:

• Improve the storage quality and/or stability of a food.
• Preserve the food by preventing spoilage.
• Improve the taste or appearance of a processed food.
• Food additives are rigorously evaluated by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ), and continually evaluated for their safety.

All the ingredients The Coca-Cola Company uses in its beverages are suitable for use in food and are in compliance with regulatory requirements.

Additive numbers

If you want to know more about a particular food or beverage additive look at the ingredient list on the label. There you will find either the additive's name or number, and its function. You can use this information to gain a better understanding of what is in the food and beverages you consume - and make an informed choice about the products you buy.

Labels are required by law to inform us about the presence of all ingredient categories in food and beverages. The FSANZ Food Standards Code requires food and beverage labels to list all ingredient categories in descending order of proportion by weight. Certain ingredient types (e.g. flavours) can be grouped as one, and are not required to be listed in descending order. Food additive numbers replace long and complex names on labels and are based on an international system used to identify food additives.

To learn more about food additives and how to identify additive numbers visit Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) website.

Preservatives

We primarily add preservatives to prevent spoilage or loss of product quality during the time it takes to transport foods to stores. Wherever a preservative is added in a product of The Coca-Cola Company, it is listed clearly on the label.

Colours

Colours are added to enhance the appearance of processed foods and beverages.

For example, 'Coca-Cola' contains caramel colouring, which is a widely used food and beverage colouring found in many kinds of processed food and beverages including: brown bread, buns, and chocolate. Although made from sugar, the amount present is not physiologically significant and contributes only a trace amount of kilojoules to a can of 'Coca-Cola'.

Allergies

People do not typically have allergic reactions to food colourings, or preservatives, but some people are sensitive to certain ingredients. True allergic reactions are triggered by proteins found in common protein-containing foods such as peanuts, milk or eggs. Food sensitivities, on the other hand, can be triggered by a wide variety of substances. Some people are reported to be sensitive to food colours such as tartrazine and cochineal, although these reactions are quite rare.

The labelling of food products helps people avoid food ingredients to which they may have allergies or food sensitivities.