Everything you need to know about additives? Let's decipher!
When we are interested in our food, we don’t let anything slide by us! Reading tags is often full of information on the composition of foods as well as additives such as conservatives, colorants or thickening agents. Added in low doses to improve flavour, appearance or shelf-life, their use is regulated by law: they must be authorised and their use within each product is monitored. They must also be mentioned on the packaging as well as their role (antioxidant, conservative, etc). Which products have little of them if not none?
No conservatives in cans
Among products with short tags (always a good sign), cans are among products which do not need conservatives. That is because the canning process is conserving by definition! Once blanched (plunged in boiling water), vegetables are sealed in an airtight container with salt, water, herbs and sometimes a pinch of sugar (for peas as we do at home for traditional French peas recipes). There is no conservative in accordance with the law.
What about packaged salads?
Another product that is guaranteed with no additives: packaged salads. In accordance with the law, in a bag of salad… there is salad and nothing else! That is because a salad once washed is packaged in a modified atmosphere which will make it last longer than one left in open air: it is by playing on the proportion of gas naturally present in the atmosphere (nitrogen, oxigen, CO2…) that we can keep them longer.
Bonduelle goes even further
At Bonduelle, we favour the shortest ingredient list possible where additives are minimal across all products including in deli salad tubs or frozen items. Bonduelle goes even further than the law with its product development charter which excludes controversial additives as well as palm oil, saturated fat, glucose and fructose syrups.