Disodium Inosinate? Maltodextrin! What the Heck’s in My Food?

by Emily Ruth

You know you should be reading the labels of everything you buy. But what's the point when the ingredient list might as well be in Greek? Here's a quick cheat sheet to some of the most common food additives.

Agar: Agar, or agar agar, is a gelatinizing agent derived from seaweed. You sometimes see it in marshmallows or gummy bears marked 'vegetarian' or 'kosher.' It's often used as a substitute for regular gelatin, which is made from the bones and connective tissue of animals.

Caramel color: This is one ingredient that's exactly what it sounds like. It's simply caramel, or burned sugar. It’s popular for its rich hue, which can be any color from pale golden to deep reddish brown and is used to color everything from Coca-Cola to brandy to vinegar to bread. It's sometimes processed with ammonia or sulfur to intensify its color.

Carnuba wax: This fatty substance is used as a texturizer or anti-caking agent in candies, frostings, and chewing gum. It's also used on the surface of apples and other fruits to make them shiny. The wax comes from the leaves of a Brazilian tree known as the wax palm.

Cochineal: This food dye, also known as carmine or carminic acid, is a red color derived from the crushed shell of the cochineal beetle. The bug, which is common throughout Central and South America, was crushed and used as paint by the ancient Maya and Aztec people. Though some people may be grossed out by the idea of eating crushed bugs, others prefer it to lab-created food dyes.

Dextrin: Dextrin refers to a variety of modified starch, which are starches that are put through a heat reaction to turn them into thickening agents. It's often used as a thickener in sauces, cream fillings, and baked goods. Maltodextrin is a common type of dextrin. Dextrin is also sometimes called starch gum or vegetable gum.

Disodium Inosinate: This flavor enhancer, derived from a substance found naturally in meat, is often used together with MSG to create a deeper, more savory flavor. It can be made from meat or vegetable sources.

Guar gum: Guar gum is a thickener and stabilizer, commonly used in ice cream, cream fillings in baked goods, salad dressings, and prepared sauces. It's popular because it thickens at room temperature and helps prevent ice crystals in frozen foods. It's derived from the husked and ground up seeds of the guar plant, which grows in South Asia, and is also known as guaran.

Maltitol: This sweetener, a type of sugar alcohol, is often used in gums and candies. Almost twice as sweet as sugar, a smaller amount of malitol is needed to achieve the same sweetness. Therefore a food sweetened with malitol will have fewer calories than the same food sweetened with sugar. Unfortunately too much malitol has an unpleasant laxative effect, as some heavy gum-chewers may have discovered.

MSG: Monosodium glutamate, or MSG, is an additive commonly used to give food a meatier, more savory flavor. This flavor, sometimes called "umami," is considered by many to be the fifth basic taste that can be perceived by the tongue (the others being sour, salt, sweet, and bitter). MSG is made by fermenting starches like sugar cane and molasses. It's sold as a white powder, which looks a lot like salt—Asian cooks sometimes refer to it as "gourmet powder." Although it's often associated with Chinese restaurants, all kinds of foods from canned soups to Latin American flavoring sauces contain MSG. And while MSG has frequently been accused of causing physical symptoms like flushing and headache, scientists have found little evidence that it's harmful to most people.

With this list in hand, take another look at your favorite products’ ingredient lists. It will make watching what you eat a lot easier.