Harm of food additives

Food safety has always been our greatest concern. Many people complain that food additives are the cause, but the truth is not the case: illegal additives are the culprit. Illegal additives and food additives are not the same thing. Food additives are legal additives. Today, let's get to know the common food additives in life! !

Common food additives

China's "Hygienic Standard for the Use of Food Additives" divides them into 22 categories, and we only say a few common ones: preservatives, antioxidants, bleaches, acidulants, coagulants, loosening agents, thickeners, sweeteners, colorants, emulsifiers, quality improvers, flavor enhancers and so on.

Preservative: it is synthetic, and commonly used are: benzoic acid, sodium benzoate, sorbic acid, potassium sorbate, etc.

Excessive intake of preservatives will cause symptoms such as drooling, diarrhea, abdominal pain and rapid heartbeat; In severe cases, it will cause serious harm to the stomach, liver and kidney, and it will increase the incidence of cancer.

Pigment: A synthetic food additive used by businesses to attract consumers and increase their appetite. Common: amaranth, carmine, lemon yellow, sunset yellow, caramel pigment and other synthetic pigments.

Natural pigments are seldom used because of their high cost and unstable nature. Excessive use of artificial pigments will accelerate the loss of zinc in children. The result of the loss is ADHD, emotional irritability, growth retardation, mental retardation, pica (children will eat soil and the like), and adult men will have reproductive disorders, because zinc is needed for sperm synthesis. Usually, men eat shellfish products such as oysters, which is also this factor! !

So let's not buy bright food! !

Sweetener: it is an additive that gives food sweetness. Commonly used are: saccharin sodium (also known as saccharin), sodium cyclamate, maltitol, sorbitol, xylitol and so on. (xylitol yogurt), because their metabolism is not controlled by insulin and will not raise blood sugar.

Leavening agent: some candy and chocolate products, as well as some fried products, puffed food, fermented flour products, etc. Commonly used leavening agents are: sodium bicarbonate, ammonium bicarbonate, compound leavening agent, etc.

Thickener: it is a kind of hydrophilic polymer compound, which has the effect of thickening. Such as sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, sodium alginate, pectin, carrageenan, Arabic gum, xanthan gum, gelatin, agar, etc.

In addition, there are acidity regulators: citric acid, tartaric acid, lactic acid and malic acid, which make food sour and sweet.

Emulsifier: It is common in some dairy products or milk drinks, such as glyceryl monostearate, glycerol monostearate and so on.

Simply put, according to their functions, common additives can be classified into the following categories:

(1) Pigment, perfume, bleaching agent, flavor enhancer, sweetener, loosening agent, etc. added to improve quality.

(2) Antioxidants and preservatives added to prevent food from spoilage

(3) stabilizers, emulsifiers, defoamers, etc. added to facilitate processing.

(4) Nutritional fortifiers, such as vitamins and trace elements, added to increase the nutritional value of food.

Food additives are not equal to illegal additives.

Except for real natural wild food, there is probably nothing in all foods processed by human beings that does not contain additives. If there were no food additives, there would not be so many kinds and dazzling foods; Without food additives, food cannot be properly prepared or preserved. It is impossible without additives.

Most of the problems caused by food additives are caused by improper and illegal use. Food additives and illegal additives are two different concepts, so the statement that "food additives have become the biggest threat to food safety" is inaccurate.

China, like most countries, has a strict examination and approval system for food additives. At present, there are more than 700 kinds of food additives approved for use in China and more than 2,500 kinds in the United States. Everything that has been approved for use is absolutely safe. It is often some illegal additives that confuse people's sight, such as the "Sudan Red No.1 Incident", "sodium formaldehyde sulfoxylate incident" and "clenbuterol incident", which have caused very bad influence in society. These are all caused by illegal additives that are strictly prohibited by the state and have nothing to do with normal food additives.

Is excessive addition harmful?

What harm will it do if so many food additives enter human body? Take benzoyl peroxide, an additive contained in steamed buns, as an example. After benzoic acid generated by benzoyl peroxide decomposition enters the human body, it can form hippuric acid with glycollic acid after 9 ~15 hours, and is discharged from the urine, and will not accumulate in the body.

However, excessive use of benzoyl peroxide will destroy the nutrients in flour and produce benzoic acid, which will be decomposed in the liver, and long-term excessive consumption will damage the liver function. According to GB2760-2007 (Hygienic Standard for the Use of Food Additives >: It is stipulated that the maximum dosage of benzoyl peroxide is 0.06g/kg.

Attitude towards food additives

1, try to choose products produced by large manufacturers with high quality and good reputation.

Since we can't put an end to foods that have used food additives, we try to choose high-quality and reputable production enterprises because these products can strictly implement the state regulations on food additives. And those underground workshops with poor quality produce a considerable number of products that belong to the abuse or excessive use of food additives. If the human body ingests these ingredients in large quantities for a long time, it will be harmful.

2. Learn to read the food ingredient list and try to buy foods with less additives.

In short, treat food additives as little as possible, and it is best not to eat! ! !