the flavoring substances added to improve the flavor of food are called edible flavoring, which is called edible spice for short. In addition to the spices directly used in food, some other spices, such as toothpaste spices, tobacco spices, oral cleaners, oral medicine spices, etc., can also be regarded as edible spices in a broad sense.

Right and Wrong of Edible Spices

Edible spices can be divided into two types: permitted and temporarily permitted, and can be divided into natural and artificial flavors according to different sources. At present, there are 534 kinds of edible spices allowed in China, including 137 kinds of natural spices and 397 kinds of synthetic spices. There are 157 kinds of spices temporarily allowed to be used.

Natural spices are made from natural plants by hot pressing, cold pressing, distillation and organic solvent leaching. Ethanol can also be used to make tincture or extract. Commonly used natural spices include star anise, fennel, pepper, ginger, pepper, mint, clove, jasmine, osmanthus fragrans, rose, nutmeg and cinnamon.

because of the small dosage, edible spices are generally not harmful to health. However, in recent years, it has been found that some natural spices contain safrole, which is a liquid with strong aromatic smell. Animal experiments have found that it can cause liver diseases, so the potential harm of natural spices to human body should not be ignored. Most artificial flavors come from petrochemical products, coal tar and other raw materials, including esters, acids, alcohols, phenols, ketones, ethers and lipids. Due to different raw materials and formulas, artificial flavors have different smells. There are many kinds of flavor monomers, some are toxic and some are non-toxic. To ensure the safe use of artificial edible flavor, we must start with flavor monomers. According to national standards, flavor monomers are divided into ① allowed flavor monomers, ② temporarily allowed flavor monomers and ③ forbidden flavor monomers.