Project Report

Topic: Preservatives

Class: 744                  Date: 2/7/17                  Mrs. Goldfisher                   I.S.125

Names: Nailah, Mohammed, Natalie, Maisha  

Question:  Why are different  preservatives utilized for different foods?

Claim: Different food preservatives are utilized for different foods.

Evidence:  Some food preservatives include benzoates, nitrates, sulfites, and sorbates. Food preservatives are used to preserve foods to make them last longer, which is useful if you need to keep food fresh for a long time. One food preservative is ascorbic acid, which is used in foods such as canned jellies and snack foods, like dried fruits. Another type of food preservation is refrigeration. Although it is used in most foods, it can be harmful to refrigerate or freeze some foods, such as fruits, which may rot due to refrigeration.

Reasoning:  Our evidence supports our claim because different foods need various preservatives for humans to consume. Different preservatives are used for different food products depending on the food’s properties. For example, if some savory items didn’t have salt, humans wouldn’t be able to consume those types of food, but if sweet food items did have salt, it would ruin the taste of those sweet foods. Another example is milk and orange juice. Orange juice contains ascorbic acid (which is vitamin C), but if milk contained ascorbic acid, humans would have a negative reaction to the milk. This would happen because milk has different properties from orange juice. This can also be compared to the human body. Different body types need a wide range of treatments, as various foods need different preservatives.

Rebuttal

Rebuttal Claim: All foods have the same preservatives.

Evidence: This is inaccurate because different foods need and have different preservatives. If you put salt into something like tea, the taste would be unpleasant. Some preservatives are too strong for certain foods and might have negative effects on the taste and texture.                                                                                                      

Reasoning: All foods do not have the same preservatives and if they did, the foods would not have good taste. For example, if you try to preserve fruit with salt it will taste too salty, and therefore, a new preservative is needed. Refrigeration is a form of preservation used for many types of food such as meats, but if you refrigerate something, such as nutella or other spreads, it's going to be solidified and it's not going to be pleasant to eat.  

                           Bibliography

11 Foods We Couldn’t Have Without Preservatives.     Date Accessed:  February 6, 2017.

URL: http://mentalfloss.com/article/62403/11-foods-we-couldnt-have-without-preservatives

Artificial Preservatives.                                                  Date Accessed: February 8, 2017.

URL: http://www.bakerpedia.com/ingredients/artificial-preservatives/

Food Preservatives.                                                        Date Accessed: February 3, 2017.

URL: http://www.chemistryexplained.com/Fe-Ge/Food-Preservatives.html

How Food Preservation Works.                                      Date Accessed: February 6, 2017.

URL:  http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/edible-innovations/food-preservation.htm