The paper towel fades as soon as it is sucked, can this drink still be drunk?
Recently, a video titled “Drinks will fade when stirred with paper towels” has caused heated discussions on the Internet. In the video, a glass is filled with a brand of orange drink. An object resembling a facial tissue is placed in the cup, and stirred at high speed with chopsticks. After about a minute, it can be clearly seen that the paper towel has turned orange similar to the original drink, and the liquid in the cup is nearly transparent.
Many netizens questioned that the coloring of this drink exceeded the standard, “There are so many colorings in the drink, can I still drink it?” Come on, let’s start the car~
The original experimental conclusion is unscientific
The rumor-buying gentleman with sharp eyes can see at a glance that this news adopts the routine of “appealing to fear”-grabbing people’s worries about life safety, coupled with surprising effects and illogical connections, making readers feel scared and have no choice Do not believe the authenticity of its content.
We often encounter the phenomenon in the video in our daily life, but we didn’t pay attention to it. For example, a water purifier can remove impurities in the water, but can we say that the impurities in the water exceed the standard? Obviously not. Exceeding is a ratio problem, that is, the amount of a certain unit of pigment in the beverage exceeds the specified ratio, and we cannot clearly draw this conclusion from the experiment.
Paper towels have many tiny pores that trap colorants. It can be roughly judged from the video that the color of the drink mainly comes from lemon yellow and sunset yellow, two synthetic pigments widely used in food. Generally speaking, no matter whether it is natural or synthetic pigment, it is easy to be absorbed by filter paper or filter with good adsorption, and “detach” from colored beverage.
Therefore, logically, this experiment can prove that paper towels have an adsorption effect on colorants, both natural and artificial. Although the paper towels did change color, firstly, it was impossible to distinguish which absorbed more artificial coloring or natural coloring, and secondly, it was impossible to prove that the coloring in the drink exceeded the standard. If it is necessary to prove that the pigment in the beverage exceeds the standard, formal inspection is required, such as professional chromatography: high performance liquid chromatography, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, etc.
Artificial colors are dangerous
Pigments in food refer to raw materials that can give food a certain color, which can be divided into natural pigments and artificial pigments. Generally speaking, people are more worried about the harm caused by artificial colors to the human body.
In fact, my country’s standards for the use of food additives stipulate the maximum usage limits of seven synthetic pigments in beverages, namely lemon yellow, sunset yellow, allura red, amaranth, carmine, brilliant blue, and erythrosine. These pigments are within a reasonable range Can be added to drinks.
It can be found from the website of the Ministry of Health that some food additives, including coloring agents, are revised every year. Interested partners can click the Health and Family Planning Commission of the People’s Republic of China to find out~
But it is undeniable that artificial color itself has certain hazards. We know many of these examples, such as the famous Sudan red and so on. Sudan Red is classified as a chemical stain and is carcinogenic. In 2005, Heinz chili sauce was detected to contain “Sudan Red No. 1”, and in less than a month, such pigments were detected in the products of many catering companies including KFC.
Studies have found that the illegal use of artificial pigments will endanger human health, lead to decreased fertility, teratogenicity, etc., and some substances may be converted into carcinogens in the human body. From 1968 to 1970, long-term experiments on the effects of amaranth in animals by the former Soviet Union found that its carcinogenic rate reached 22%. Butter yellow, which was used to color margarine in the past, has long been proven that excessive intake can cause liver cancer in humans and animals. For children, some artificial pigments can cause adverse reactions such as emotional instability and poor self-control.
However, artificial pigments are maintained within the specified range and will not cause great harm to the body.
Generally speaking, people drink beverages because beverages are different from plain water. They are visually rich in color and unique in taste, and fully satisfy their own taste and visual needs. However, beverages are “refreshing but not refreshing”-artificial colors are mostly found in high-carbohydrate, highly processed, and low-nutrient-density beverages.
It is also because the appearance of boiled water is not outstanding enough that people often overlook its charming connotation.
From a nutritional point of view, any sugary drinks or functional drinks are not as good as plain water. Because pure boiled water is the easiest to quench your thirst, easy to cell membrane after entering the body, promote metabolism, and transport nutrients. At the same time, it can also increase the activity of dehydrogenase in the body, reduce the accumulation of lactic acid in the muscles, and make people less prone to fatigue.
In other words, it also has the effect of quenching thirst, and plain water is much healthier than beverages.
After reading this article, have you replenished your water? If not, drink plenty of water!
interactive session
What kind of pigment () is the pigment absorbed by the paper towel in the video?
A. Artificial coloring
B. Natural pigments
C. Unable to judge
