How Is Vitamin C Added to Food?

Bondable Form

Vitamin C is most often added to fruit juices, sports drinks and cereals. When adding any vitamin to a food product, the vitamin's physical form must be able to bond with the food in question. The process begins in a chemical lab, where vitamin C is transformed into a liquid or a powder. Both the liquid and solid forms of the vitamin have the same chemical composition, but there is some debate about which form is more easily absorbed by the body.

Appropriate Increments

Once the vitamin is in the appropriate form, the process is transferred to a manufacturing plant, where the appropriate increments are added to the food. When adding any extra nutrient to a food, it is important to get the proportions right, since adding over 100 percent of a vitamin to a single serving can cause overdose issues. Although vitamin C is hard to overdose on, it can happen, so chemists test the chemical makeup to make sure the proportions are correct. The Food and Drug Administration must approve the addition of the vitamin.

Product Taste

Although vitamins in their purest form have little taste, it is important that the addition of the vitamin to the product does not change its taste, as this will not be enticing to consumers who want the health benefits of vitamin C in familiar-tasting foods. When the process is complete, and the product is ready for the consumer, the fortified food or drink will have an increased number of anti-oxidants and enzymes, which increases microsomal metabolism and boosts immune system activity.

Resources

• Food Fortification Technology