No preservatives – or why a small additive is so important

Our armacura Colostrum products always contain the words “without preservatives” because we deliberately avoid using them during production – i.e. all additional ingredients that are intended to extend the shelf life of the product.

The reason for this is actually simple, but by no means self-evident. We consider it our duty to ensure that our colostrum products reach you in as natural a state as possible, i.e. without preservatives.

Because nature itself has ingeniously combined over 400 valuable nutrients in a balanced concentration in this unique food. So why add anything else? Especially as the harm might be greater than the actual benefit.

In this article, we want to take a closer look at the topic of preservatives.

What are preservatives?

The term “preservatives” is a collective term for all substances that are added to a food during the manufacturing process in order to extend its shelf life.

The addition “without preservatives” therefore implies that no chemical preservatives are used in the manufacture of products.

Why do products need preservatives at all?

Of course, food is best prepared and eaten fresh. However, to prevent food from spoiling, it usually needs to be preserved.

Many of the foods we consume every day would not be available to us without preservation. By increasing the shelf life, longer transportation routes are possible, but longer storage times are also feasible, so that we can consume food from all over the world seasonally independently and at any time of year.

How do preservatives work?

Food spoils primarily due to the successive infestation of microorganisms such as bacteria, yeast or mold.

Preservatives are used to inhibit the growth of these organisms, which damage the food or even make it inedible, or ideally to kill them. Around 5 % of food is preserved by means of chemical preservation.

In other cases, however, methods are used that often have a long tradition or have been developed more recently. However, we will go into these in more detail later.

Which preservatives are used?

On the one hand, substances such as salt, sugar, vinegar or lactic acid are natural preservatives, but there are also a number of chemical additives with a preservative effect.

The former are considered “normal” ingredients, while the latter are declared as food additives by the European Food Safety Authority following a corresponding test – they must be stated and labeled accordingly in the list of ingredients.

There are currently more than 40 preservatives listed that have been approved by the European Union and can therefore be clearly identified by an E number (E stands for Europe or the EU).

The most common preservatives on this list include:

• Sorbic acid (E 200) or its salts, the sorbates. Sorbic acid is considered the most important preservative with a broad spectrum of activity against yeasts, molds and bacteria. E 200 has only a minor effect on color, smell and taste. Sorbic acid is used in baked goods and jams, for example.
• Sulphur dioxide (E 220) or its salts, the sulphites. Sulphur dioxide is used in wines, canned fruit, dried fruit and potato products such as mashed potatoes or French fries.
• Benzoic acid (E 210) or its salts, sodium, potassium and calcium benzoates. This is an additive group that is used in fish products, sauces, non-alcoholic beer or acidified vegetables.
• Sodium nitrate (E 251) and potassium nitrate (E 252). These two nitrates are frequently used in meat and sausage products, as well as in various cheese products.

In addition to these and many other preservatives, there are also antioxidants, which are also classed as preservatives in the broadest sense. They ensure that the food does not lose its color, taste or consistency.

Are chemical preservatives harmful?

In principle, preservatives are only approved after thorough testing to rule out any risks to health. Nevertheless, some preservatives are sometimes criticized for posing health risks and side effects.

As with all substances that are ingested, the motto “the dose makes the poison” always applies. This is why a corresponding ADI value (acceptable daily dose) has also been set for preservatives – i.e. the amount that can be ingested daily without having a toxic effect.

Preservative-free – what alternatives are there to chemical preservatives?

People have been preserving their food for a long time using a wide variety of methods and natural preservatives.

The principle is often similar – basically it is always about keeping the food edible for as long as possible and at the same time depriving the microorganisms of their basis of life.

Meat has been dried or smoked since long before our era. The removal of water and the substances in the smoke acted as a natural form of preservation.

However, pickling in oil or vinegar was also used in early times to increase shelf life. In the case of oil, the exclusion of air and in the case of vinegar, the acid is responsible for the preservative effect.

Salt has also been used for a very long time to extend the shelf life of food – as have formic, lactic, oxalic, tartaric and citric acid. And, of course, alcohol and sugar are also popular “preservatives” with a long tradition.

Other well-known methods include heating, cooling and air exclusion. And it is precisely on this basis that the more modern approaches to preservation are based.

During pasteurization, the microorganisms are rendered harmless by briefly heating them up to 80 °C. Traditional canning and the production of tins are processes that are over 200 years old. The food is first heated and then stored in airtight containers.

The ultra-modern processes also include freeze-drying products, UHT (ultra-high temperature) processes, in which milk, for example, is sterilized by rapidly heating it to 135 °C, or the specific treatment of products under the influence of high pressure.

How is colostrum preserved without preservatives?

According to the strict guidelines of the European Union, no chemical preservatives may be used as additives in food from controlled organic production.

As a result, our armacura Colostrum is also produced without preservatives.

In order to ensure that our armacura colostrum products have an appropriate shelf life and at the same time fully preserve the sensitive colostrum ingredients, we only use highly modern and complex processing methods.

After the removal of fats and proteins that are difficult to digest, the colostrum is processed into liquid serum or dry powder.

The serum for our colostrum liquid products is filled immediately after sterile cold filtration (microfiltration) in the absence of air. Sterilization at low temperatures ensures that the sensitive nutrients in the first milk are fully preserved.

Our conclusion

Since time immemorial, food has been preserved using a wide variety of methods – for example using natural preservatives such as salt, sugar or vinegar. However, physical methods such as drying, heating, cooling or sealing in air have also proven their worth over the centuries.

However, where these methods reach their limits or are too time-consuming or cost-intensive, chemical preservatives are often used. However, these often pose health risks or change the taste, color or smell of the food to its detriment.

The shelf life of our armacura Colostrum products is ensured by extremely elaborate, but at the same time very gentle processing techniques, which fully preserve the sensitive and valuable ingredients.