In laymans terms what are emulsifiers, soya lecithin, E476, glucose syrup, glycerol?

Factual Questions
1

In laymans terms what are emulsifiers, soya lecithin, E476, glucose syrup, glycerol?

I just wondered what these ingredients really are. Could you have got hold of them 100 years ago? Are they just fancy words for normal things??

Also - when a product lists ‘flavouring’ as an ingredient what does that mean?

2

I’m not much help here, but I’m pretty sure that emulsifiers are chemicals that stop a mixture from seperating (like how oil and water does). And glycerol is… something fatty. Damn it, year eleven chemistry seems so far away (admittedly, only three years).

~ Isaac

3

Carl W. Scheele, a Swedish chemist, discovered a new transparent, syrupy liquid by heating olive oil and litharge. This new sweet-tasting compound was named Glycerol (derived from the Greek word glykys, which means sweet). Studies later showed glycerol to be a principal component of all fats and oils, in the form of its esters called glycerides. Glycerol was found to possess a wide variety of uses in the manufacture of numerous domestic, industrial and pharmaceutical products. Today, the name glycerol refers to the pure chemical substance and is commercially known as glycerine.
Glycerol (CH2OH.CHOH.CH2OH), in its pure form, is a sweet-tasting, clear, colorless, odorless, viscous liquid
Choline, the basic constituent of Soya Lecithin , plays a role in maintaining a healthy nervous system
see here:
http://www.aabhealth.com/lecithincholine.htm

for glucose, check here:
http://www.originagrostar.com/glucose.html

for E476, check here:
http://www.bryngollie.freeserve.co.uk/E476.htm

also answers lecithin, I believe, which is also named E322

4

emulsifiers–As Dinaroozie said, these let different ingredients mix together and stay mixed.

soya lecithin–Soya means it’s made from soybeans. Lecithin is a waxy stuff that also helps to mix things. It’s also an antioxidant, but it was probably used for texture.

glucose syrup–Glucose is a sugar. Syrup is simply sugar and water.

I don’t know the others.

5

Emulsifiers, as Dinaroozie says, are substances that help to form an emulsion - typically of oil and water - ie, it stops fat and water from separating out.

Soya lecithin is a natural emulisfier, derived from soya beans.

E476 is the number given to Polyglycerol polyricinoleate. Well, you did ask! It’s used in chocolate products as it makes molten chocolate runnier.

Glucose syrup is, well,m glucose syrup. Glucose (sugar) in water, basically.

Glycerol is a type of alcohol, chemically speaking. In food it is used as a “humectant”, that is to keep things moist, and as a sweetener.

Despite the chemical sounding names, they are absolutely nothing to be concerned about. In fact, lecithin is widely touted these days as a health food for its cholesterol-lowering properties.

As for “flavouring”, that is a deliberately nebulous term, which can cover all sorts of things, both natural, synthetic and “nature-identical” - that is, identical to a natural flavour molecule, but produced synthetically.