Is it safe to eat food with food additives? Choose "no addition" when buying food? In fact, each of us eats an average of 6-7 kilograms of food additives every year. Even if you eat many different kinds of food a day, you don't have to worry about excessive food additives. Additives are allowed to be added to food, but there are many restrictions when using them, and the use of additives must meet certain technical conditions. Interested friends, please come with me and have a look. I believe you will gain a lot after reading today's news.

Zhong Kai, member of the Standing Committee of the health communication branch of the Chinese Preventive Medicine Association and deputy director of Kexin food and nutrition information exchange center, answered many people's concerns about food additives in the diet page of the health times on April 26, 2019 and July 11, 2017 respectively.

1. Chinese people eat the most additives?

A: the consistent trend in the world is that the intake of food additives in developed countries and regions is higher than that in non developed countries and regions. The reason lies in the high degree of food industrialization and a large proportion in the dietary structure. China is the country with the largest output of food additives in the world, which may not be one of them, but a considerable part of it is exported to the European and American markets.

2. Is it safe to eat food with food additives?

A: the current level of food safety is many times higher than before. The real problem of food safety is food borne diseases caused by bacterial pollution, followed by agricultural residues, animal residues, heavy metals and other pollutants. No country regards food additives as the main problem of food safety.

At present, the synthetic food additives approved for use in China have been approved for use in more than two developed countries. Therefore, as long as the food additives are used in strict accordance with the varieties and doses specified by the state, the safety is guaranteed.

3. Why are many food safety incidents linked to food additives?

A: This is mainly because some illegal businesses use "illegal additives". Melamine, Sudan red, hanging white block and industrial gelatin are non edible substances and are not food additives approved by the state. Both China and other countries prohibit the addition of these substances to food.

In addition, the use of food additives to cover up food corruption or quality defects, the use of food additives beyond the scope and amount, and the use of food additives that have not been approved by China are all illegal uses of food additives, which are expressly prohibited by the state. The rational use of food additives will not cause these problems.

4. Must the food with food additives be bad?

A: benzoic acid in red jujube and sorbic acid in medlar are the main components of preservatives. Even nitrogen and carbon dioxide in the air belong to food additives. In fact, we can't avoid it. Many of the use of food additives are derived from "process necessity". For example, preservatives are added to avoid the corruption of many foods; Because of the addition of nutritional enhancers to avoid malnutrition.

China has formulated strict and detailed standards for the use range and dosage of various food additives. The food additives allowed to be used according to the regulations have undergone all-round scientific and strict safety testing and evaluation. Therefore, as long as it is used according to the standard, food additives will not cause harm to health.

5. Choose "no addition" when buying food?

A: for those who boast "no addition", business gimmicks are far greater than the actual health significance. Some do not need to be added at all, for example, water is "0 carbon water, 0 calories, 0 sugar, 0 caffeine, no pigment, no fragrance, no added, no gluten, no genetically modified, no thickening agent, no emulsifier, no acidity regulator, no coagulant, no antioxidants......"

Some are replaced by other substances. For example, yogurt can be "pure natural, no high fructose syrup, no aspartame, no sucralose, no stevia, no gelatin, no artificial pigment and no preservative." Probably because of the addition of nectar, there is no need to add high fructose syrup; Added pectin, so there is no need to add gelatin; White yogurt does not need to add pigment; Other microorganisms in yogurt basically can't grow and don't need preservatives; With so much nectar, there is no need to add sweetener.

6. Food additives are modern, but our grandparents didn't eat them before?

A: human beings have a long history of using food additives, which is not unique in modern times. It's just that there was no unified name in the past. Now there is a more standardized management of food additives. The tofu eaten by my grandparents also needs brine, but it was called brine at that time and now it is called coagulant; The flour alkali used in making steamed bread at that time is now called acidity regulator or bulking agent.

It is these most common food additives that meet the needs of anti-corrosion, preservation, improvement of food properties and flavor in the process of food processing, transportation and storage, and bring convenience to life.

References:

① April 26, 2019 health times "food without additives may not be good" (Zhong Kai, member of the Standing Committee of health communication branch of Chinese Preventive Medicine Association) ② July 11, 2017 health times "talk about food safety hot words"