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We may eat a lot of food additives, but most consumers know very little about them. These often misunderstood substances go by unwieldy names like “diacetyl” or “azodicarbonamide.” They are in everything from salad dressings to Twinkies. But how many of us actually know what they look like or, more important, what they’re doing in our food?

Ingredients, a new book by photographer Dwight Eschliman and writer Steve Ettlinger, seeks to demystify 75 common food additives, from acesulfame potassium to xanthan gum, by providing an easy-to-read encyclopedia of sorts of various food additives, their uses and their history.

‘Ingredients’: An Eye-Opening Look At The Additives In Our Food

Photo: The ingredients found in Campbell’s Chunky Classic Chicken Noodle Soup. Credit: Dwight Eschliman/Regan Arts