In modern diet relying heavily on processed food, it is difficult to live without food additives, added to food regardless of whether consumers want or not. This poses the following questions: Are food additives really safe? Are they toxic? Are they cancerous? Are they still good to eat? Are there any concerns on excessive intake and interactions? Is toxicity testing adequate? Is ADI evaluation being set up properly? In this article, I discuss a desirable management strategy for food additives, by addressing these questions and concerns and analyzing and reviewing current status of food additive management.

This study was conducted to investigate the consumers' recognition and information need for food safety, especially focused on pesticide residues, foodborne illness, and food additives. The data were collected from 350 adults living in Taegu and Pusan by the self-administered questionnaire. Frequencies and chi-square tests were conducted by SPSS. The results of the survey were as follows: (1) the consumers' concerns about food safety were high, (2) many respondents worried about eating vegetables, fruits and grains in turn because of pesticide residues, and did not trust the results from food-safety tests, (3) the major factor for foodborne illness was regarded as unfreshed or contaminated food stuffs, (4) many consumers concerned highly about preservatives among food additives, and tried to consume food containing less food additives, and (5) many respondents wanted to get the information about harmfulness of pesticide residues in foods, method to choose fresh food, and safety of food additives.