What Is Used As an Emulsifier in Foods?

Emulsifiers are molecules with disparate ends: one with an affinity for water, the other with an affinity for oil. They are important in food production because they allow otherwise non-combinable materials (oil or fat and water) to be combined in stable, homogeneous solutions.

Emulsifiers allow for stable manufacture of ice cream. "Icecream and mango" is Copyrighted by Flickr user: yomi955 (yomi yomi) under the Creative Commons Attribution license.

Types

Common emulsifiers include egg yolk, lecithin (a type of fat found in eggs, soy and other food products) and mono- and diglycerides (derivatives of fatty acids).

Function

In an oil-water solution, an emulsifier's molecules surround oil molecules. The emulsifier's oil-friendly head stays close to the oil molecules; the water-friendly tail attracts water molecules. In this way, droplets of oil remain suspended within the water rather than separate from the water into their own layer.

Significance

Emulsifiers are widely used in food products such as breads and other foods made with grain, soft drinks, chewing gum, ice cream, mayonnaise and creamy dressings.

Benefits

Lecithin, a commonly-used emulsifier, is a primary component of cell membranes and is necessary for cell growth and function.

Considerations

Though lecithin is frequently extracted from soy, a common food allergen, the FDA acknowledges that lecithin is present in such trace amounts as to pose no allergen hazard itself.

References

• Food Additives
• Food and Drug Administration

Resources

• Understanding Emulsifiers
• Food Emulsifiers and Their Applications, Gerard L. Hasenhuettl and Richard W. Hartel, eds.; 2008