User:Morgan thomas3/sandbox

Morgan Thomas 2/17/14 UCOR 1810-04 Professor McNarry

Group Members: Morgan Thomas, Sydney Thomas, Eshani Sharma Wikipedia Page: Glazing Agents		Subtopic: Beeswax

Beeswax, what is it, what is it used for, why is it used? Many people think of it as something that bees make which we then to turn in to things like candles or polishes, this is true but it is used for more then just that. It is used as a natural food additive to preserve different kinds of things. Beeswax comes from the beehives which beekeepers cut off the wax caps form the honeycombs. Beeswax is used as a wax to repel water, prevent loss of color, make lip products and as a glazing agent for food products. Beeswax in terms of a glazing agent is used to help preserve things like food and as mentioned above preserve things like wood tables. Beeswax is a natural glazing agent and also known as E 901. There have been many studies that look at the different affects of beeswax. One study in particular looked at the effect of a beeswax coating of Kashar cheese. This study took place over 120 days and looked at Kashar cheese one with a single coating, a double coating, and one cheese had no coating during the aging presses. In the end the scientist found no difference in the bacteria levels of the three different cheeses. But they did find that the cheese that was the controlled cheese (no packaging) had a significantly higher fat and protein content then the two other cheeses after the 120 days. The results concluded that the beeswax had no significant affect on the microbial (microorganism) groups. It does not have a negative effect on Kashar cheese, which can help us lead to the fact that beeswax may not have any negative affects on the food in which beeswax is used to help preserve. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) had a panel of people come together and try and decide if beeswax was sufficient glazing agent. They concluded that the data that was presented to them was insufficient to really determine anything but they did conclude that the safety of beeswax could be assessed bused on the evidence given. The panel concluded, “that the use of beeswax as an additive for the existing food uses and the proposed new food use is not of safety concern.” Overall the use of beeswax as a glazing agent is questions by many if it is safe or not, but all the studies with the evidence they are given provide no reason why beeswax should not be used. It is a natural agent that has had little to no harm so far. Beeswax has been used for many years and has only evolved into a better product.