After gold is forged into gold foil or gold thread, it can be widely used in religion, classical gardens and landmark building decoration, clothing, food, catering, medicine, medicine, cosmetics and other fields.

Edible gold foil has deep edible value. Li Shizhen's Compendium of Materia Medica in the Ming Dynasty recorded: "Gold, the soul of the town, marrow, evil spirits of the five internal organs, never dies".

1983, the Codex Committee of Food Additives of the World Health Organization officially listed gold in the category of food additives, which was compiled in Table A No.310; The substances used in the new national food resources issued by China's Ministry of Health are divided into nine categories, among which the eighth category of minerals and trace elements clearly contain "gold foil".

Gold foil not only has edible value, but also has extensive and far-reaching medicinal value. It is recorded in the Compendium of Materia Medica in the Tang Dynasty that gold foil can "treat children's shock injury, the five internal organs are shocked and lose their will, and calm their hearts".

In the Ming Dynasty, Li Shizhen's Compendium of Materia Medica said that "taking pills with foil can break cold, remove wind, treat epilepsy and wind-heat hepatobiliary diseases"; After it was introduced into Japan, it was also recorded in the Japanese medical book "Supplementary Examination of Traditional Chinese Medicine", which recorded "calming nerves, moistening face, convulsion, wind-heat and hepatobiliary diseases".

Tongrentang's famous Chinese patent medicines, such as Niuhuang Angong Pill, Niuhuang Qingxin Pill, Wuji Baifeng Pill and Dahuoluo Pill, all use gold foil as medicine formula or medicine. In modern surgery, gold foil is also commonly used for the treatment of burned skin and surgical suture.

It can be seen that gold, as a precious metal trace element, can be used boldly and widely, whether for internal use or external use, as long as it is beneficial and harmless in proper amount.

Extended data

Safety of edible gold

Traditional Chinese medicine divides gold into "raw gold" and "cooked gold". Gold that has not been smelted and forged many times is called raw gold, which is "toxic and lethal, so it is forbidden to be used as medicine".

Because the impurities in raw gold have not been removed, it is correct from a scientific point of view. If the purity of gold foil is above 90%, you can safely eat it. Relatively speaking, the lower the purity of gold foil, the more heavy metal components such as lead and copper are mixed, which is not suitable for eating.

But also cause heavy metal poisoning. The World Health Organization listed gold as a food additive in 1983. Because of the light weight of gold foil, a gold feast uses less than 2 grams of gold;

Therefore, some gold foils, such as gold foil meat buns, gold foil coffee and gold foil cakes, are eaten in very small quantities, and the gold foils with high purity (above 90%) will be excreted about 24 hours after eating, and will not accumulate in the body, so it is safe to eat.

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