Question

What is the role of following chemicals in food?
i) Saccharin
ii) Sodium benzoate

Answer 1

i) Saccharin is artificial sweetening agent. It has sweet taste but no food value. It goes directly through the human digestive system without being digested. It is 550 times more sweet than can sugar.
ii) Sodium benzoate is a food preservative. It is classified under chemical methods of food preservation. It is added to food to inhibit, retard or arrest the process of fermentation, acidification or other decomposition of food by growth of microbes.