Is soy sauce full of “technology and hard work”? Is “0 additives” really better?
Recently, the field of food safety “storm again”, a series of “food counterfeiting” content in the name of “Hexagon Technology” (the game “League of Legends” in the super technology) in the Internet The contents of a series of “food counterfeiting” contents in the name of “Hexagon Technology” (the super powerful technology in the game “League of Legends”) have been circulated on the Internet. Among them, the issue of food additives in soy sauce products, especially the issue of
preservatives, has become the focus of attention again.
Some Internet posts claimed that a soy sauce giant enterprise in the domestic sale of products containing a large number of food additives, while the company sold abroad is “0 additive” products, only water, soybeans, wheat, salt and other natural raw materials, questioning the implementation of the enterprise in the “double standard”.
Comparison of the ingredient list of a soy sauce Image Source: Internet
September 30, the enterprise issued a statement through its official microblogging said: “Some short video accounts borrowed ‘Hexa Technology’, ‘science and technology and hard to live’ topic, using the public’s concern for food safety to create anxiety and panic! “At the same time, he said he also has “delicious and inexpensive 0-added series” soy sauce.
However, the incident did not die down.
On October 4, the company’s official microblogging second response: “Regular food companies in countries around the world will be based on regulations, standards and product characteristics, legal compliance with the use of food additives, and in accordance with the provisions of the labeling clear. Simply think that foreign products have fewer food additives, or that products with additives are not good, are misunderstandings.”
For people concerned about the “soy sauce controversy”, October 5, China Seasoning Association also released a statement on the official website.
The statement pointed out that: “the standard itself does not exist between high and low …… food production enterprises as long as they strictly in accordance with the relevant provisions of the standardization of the use of food additives, the production of the product is safe.”
What exactly are food additives? Is it safe? Is “0 additive” really better? What should we think about food additives?
01
What are food additives?
Food additives are synthetic or natural substances that are added to food in order to improve the quality, color, aroma and taste of food, as well as for the purpose of preservation, freshness and processing. Flavorings for food, base agent substances in gel-based confectionery, and processing aids for the food industry are also included.
At present, there are about 2,000 kinds of food additives approved for use in China, and any substance not in the list of “Standard for the Use of Food Additives” (GB2760) is not a food additive.
Food additives are divided into 23 categories according to their functions, and the familiar ones are preservatives, bulking agents, spices (flavors), coloring agents (pigments) and so on. The previously mentioned “food processing aids” may not be familiar to you, but in fact, very commonly used, such as enzyme preparations belong to the processing aids.
02
Are food additives safe?
The “Hexagonal Technology” and “Technology and Tough Living” have made people very worried about food additives, thinking that food additives are all unsafe.
In fact, all food additives are safe as long as they are used appropriately. There has never been a case of health damage caused by the rational use of food additives.
The term “reasonable use” should be emphasized here!
The so-called “rational use” refers to the use of food additives in accordance with the scope of use and the amount of use stipulated by national standards, and in accordance with the principles of food additive use.
We often see in the news media, the network of the endless violations of the law, in fact, are illegal to abuse, especially illegal additives to make food additives back a lot of blackmail. The “Hexagonal Technology”, “technology and hard work” exposure of many problems is also the essence of illegal abuse.
As long as the scope of use beyond the national standard, or exceed the national standard for the use of the amount (which is often referred to as excessive), or against the principle of the use of food additives (for example, the use of three flowers of light milk to fake mutton soup), are illegal and abusive use of food additives.
In addition, some substances are not food additives at all, but illegal additives, such as Sudan red, plasticizers, melamine, as long as the use is illegal; the use of industrial-grade products is the same, such as industrial gelatin in leather yogurt.
Many people are also worried that there are too many types of additives in food, a large row behind the ingredient list, so many kinds of cumulative will not be harmful? We often see “a food detected/contains more than a dozen additives,” the situation found that many media also said that “long-term intake of large quantities will lead to XX serious consequences”.
In fact, there is no need to panic.
The safety evaluation of food additives has already taken into account the situation of lifelong, daily and large intake, and the so-called “long-term large amount” of food additives used in accordance with the standard does not exist, and generally does not cause harm.
For example, our national standards on the use of food additives on the “limit” provisions, this limit is usually based on the animal safety dose and then enlarged 100 times, as long as our normal diet, from the amount of health hazards caused by the
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