Three Chemical Compounds

     I go to the kitchen and pick up the first can I see-- pizza sauce.  I read under "ingredients" and run across Citric acid.  The correct formula for Citric acid is C₆H₈O₇.  Turns out that it is mixed into foods and soft drinks to add a sour taste.  This would explain why I found it on the label of a pizza sauce.  It is also naturally found in many fruits and vegetables, but citrus fruits has concentrated amounts of it (such as limes, lemons, and oranges).  Citirc acid is a weak organic acid, which would explain why our mouths don't corrode after we eat an orange.  Thank goodness!
     Then from a can of black olives, I pick out the second compound: Ferrous gluconate (C₁₂H₂₄FeO₁₄), an iron based compound.  The reason why they put this chemical compound in the can is so then the olives could maintain their  black color.  Ferrous gluconate is also used for treating hypochronic anemia (people who have little iron in their system).  Taking too much of this chemical compound, however, can be toxic.  An overdose can cause someone to be in a coma, but this would only be an extreme case.  Milder symptoms include dehydration, nausea, and loss of skin color.
     Last but not least, a can of veggies contains Calcium chloride (CaCl₂).  This chemical compound has multiple purposes.  It is used to absorb moisture in air-tight containers, to prevent ice from forming (useful on road surfaces and car tires during extremely cold temperatures), to provide more taste for pickles (it has a salty taste), to treat hypocalcaemia (people with low blood calcium), and even to level out calcium levels in pool water.  The reason why the canned veggies contained CaCl₂ is because this chemical compound serves as a "firming agent" (it helps strengthen the structure of the vegetables while in the can).  So now I know why the vegetables maintain their firm shapes when we open a veggie can.  It's a great thing that CaCl₂ can do that for canned veggies, otherwise they would be old and mushy!