Ascorbic acid (C6H8O6), is an organic compound belonging to the family of monosaccharides. It is highly soluble in water, and is often called one of the secrets of the Mediterranean diet. Important is also the spread of its use in the food industry, which has always exploits the ability antioxidants and stabilizers. Many indeed are the additive formulations that take advantage of these properties of ascorbic acid. The purpose of this paper is to explain the characteristics that make ascorbic acid an important food additive and to emphasize the technical and legal issues related to its use in food productions. In particular, in the course of this employment, laws and scientific studies have been applied to the resolution of a lawsuit, having as its object the use of ascorbic acid in preparations of ground beef sold at a butcher shop. The views expressed in court by the technical consultant have led to the acquittal of the accused, in the light of the demonstrated and proven non-toxicity of the molecule and the use of a mixture of additives for the production of sausage. The European and national legislation, supported by numerous scientific studies, define the possible use of ascorbic acid according to the principle of "quantum satis " and it can be used in foods for children. Our work aims to represent further evidence of the safety of use of ascorbic acid as a food additive and as confirmed by this legal decision, he wants to bring out the prospects for use of ascorbic acid for technological purposes even by registered establishments.

STATs are a group of transcription factors that mediate actions of a variety of peptide hormones and cytokines within target cells (for example, prolactin and growth hormone). Therefore, STAT5A gene is a candidate marker for quantitative traits in farm animals with respect to milk production traits. In this study the STAT5A/AvaI polymorphism was investigated with PCR-RFLP in a sample of 233 Italian Brown cattle. This polymorphism is localized in the coding region of the bovine STAT5A gene. It is a substitution C→T at position 6853 within exon 7. All three possible genotypes for the C/T polymorphism were identified. The overall frequencies of alleles C and T were 0·83 and 0·17 respectively; the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium was verified. In order to study the relationship between STAT5A/AvaI polymorphism and milk performance traits, the data for a 305-d milk production that included milk yield, protein and fat yield, fat and protein percentage were used. Significant differences between the two genotypes were found in yields of milk, fat and protein and protein percentage (P<0·01). CC cows produced more milk than CT (5418·68 v. 5149·54 kg). Protein content was higher in milk from CC compared with CT genotypes (3·40 v. 3·21%). No significant difference was found in fat content. Owing to the low number of TT cows in the studied population, this genotype was not included in the statistical analysis; in fact the number of TT cows was not enough to provide an accurate statistical analysis. Although more studies are needed to better clarify the role of this SNP on production traits, STAT5A/AvaI polymorphism appears to be a promising indirect marker to improve milk production traits in cattle.