Processing aids are no food additives and need not be mentioned on the label of foods.
It is also a substance which is not consumed as a food ingredient by itself. It is intentionally used in the processing of raw materials, foods or their ingredients, to fulfill a certain technological purpose during treatment or processing, in the finished product.
Examples of processing aid include:
During food production, water is widely used as a processing aid without the aim of serving it as an ingredient.
Powdered foods such as cocoa contain silicon dioxide to prevent clumping when water is added.
Transglutaminase, naturally occurring enzymes use as binding agent and it also used in restructuring meat products such as sausages, hot dogs and steaks.
Transglutaminase is considered a processing aid in the current EU legislation on food enzymes.
Chitosan produced from chitin, is effective inhibitor of several species of molds, yeasts and bacteria.
The applications of chitosan include coatings on meat products and fruits. It has not been widely approved as food additive in western countries, but rather as a processing aid.
Processing aids
