food adÂ·diÂ·tives. Natural and chemical agents added to prepared foods to enhance some aspect of the food (e.g., shelf life, appearance, nutrition levels). food additives. Substances, numbered in thousands, added to food for purposes of preservation, appearance, flavour, texture or nutritional value. Without additives, much food would soon be spoiled and wasted. Common additives include vitamins, minerals and trace elements in bread, cereals, milk, margarine, table salt, fruit drinks and baby foods. Flavouring and colourings include sugar, salt, mustard, pepper, monosodium glutamate and tartrazine.
I make my own pasta dough frequently. Since my standard recipe makes around 40oz (1 kg) of dough, I always have leftover, so I've had plenty of experience with saving it. Even with eggs, pasta dough will be fine in the fridge for a week; the texture will be unaffected (if anything, it will be better). If you want to keep it longer than a week, it can be frozen for several weeks wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, and more-or-less indefinitely if you vacuum-seal it.
I then put the rest back in the fridge and repeat until the dough is done. Last Thursday I made a batch and ate 3 pieces. I then pulled it out of the fridge again on Monday and ate another 1. So I still have about another 4 left, and today its been 7 days since I made that dough.