The public suggestions are mainly divided into three categories, including specific recommendations for modifying certain food classification systems in the standard, modifying the scope of use of certain additives, and the use of specific additives, and recommending changes to the names of food additives. The relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Health stated that the opinions and suggestions collected will be categorized, experts will be organized to hold special meetings, and one-by-one research will be conducted on the opinions and suggestions.
In the "Food Safety National Standard for the Use of Food Additives" (Draft for Comment), benzoyl peroxide, commonly known as the "flour brightener," is still included in the flour treatment, which once again attracted the attention of the industry and discuss. Earlier, the grain department and many manufacturers proposed to stop the use of benzoyl peroxide in flour.
In response, the relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Health told this newspaper that the Ministry of Health is coordinating with relevant departments to study the withdrawal of benzoyl peroxide as a flour treatment agent and its related supporting policies.
According to reports, according to the proposal of the National Grain Administration, etc. to ban benzoyl peroxide as a flour treatment agent, the Ministry of Health has organized the National Food Additives Standardization Technical Committee (hereinafter referred to as the Standards Committee) to conduct research and demonstrate the withdrawal of post-treatment measures. jobs.
The person in charge said that the revocation involves a wide range of issues. In order to minimize the impact on related industries and trade, it is necessary to properly decide the policy of revocation of policy transition period, the disposal of commercially available products, industrial influence, import and export trade, and other supporting policies.
inventory
What are the food additives that are within the scope of national regulations in common food additives? Which are new and controversial additives? Is there any substance that is not allowed to be added at all? Preservatives found everywhere in foods, how can they be supervised?
For these issues of public concern, food experts interpreted. Experts believe that it is not food additives that are causing consumers' lack of sense of security at the moment. They are forbidden to add non-edible substances. Such as sensational melamine, Sudan red and so on. The "one drop of incense" that is now being stir-fried is equally unknown and attracts people's attention. ,
ã€A drop of incense】
According to reports, "a drop of incense" contains "enzymatic hydrolyzate, hydrolyzed food protein, amino acids, etc."
Individual restaurants use "a drop of fragrant" as a condiment to make rice noodles, hot pot, mala Tang and other foods. Their "chicken soup" and "bone soup" are actually used to brewing.
Huo Junsheng said that according to the current information, "a drop of incense" is not all additives, more like a composite seasoning. Amino acids are additives, and enzymatic meat extract is also a hydrolyzed protein. However, the problem is that at the moment, it is not known whether there is any other substance in the “one drop of incenseâ€.
Wang Xufeng, director of food inspection at Beijing Yiguang Advanced Technical School, also told this newspaper that “one drop of incense†is more like a compound food additive. Just like a merchant knows the material composition of a certain kind of soup, it uses chemical methods. And synthesis of fragrance.
For the “one drop of incense†produced by regular food additive manufacturers, Wang Xufeng believes that as long as it complies with national regulatory norms, it can be used in the cooking process, but for “small drops†produced by small businesses, Wang Xufeng reminds consumers to pay attention.
Although it has not yet been shown that eating a “drop of incense†causes injuries, Wang Xufeng believes that this shows that food additives have entered the food and beverage industry from the food processing industry. The chef has not undergone rigorous training, so he does not know how much dose to add when using it. This raises new challenges in the regulation of usage.
For the supervision of compound additives, Huo Junsheng said that additives are sometimes used in a variety of ways, and technical supervision is more difficult. For example, thickeners in milk, such as monoglyceride and CMC, are generally not used so that liquid milk will appear thick. Bright color. "Now that standards for compounding additives are being developed, we believe that the introduction of this standard will facilitate the quality management of related products."
Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering Chen Junshi
China is very cautious about setting standards for food additives. Use under this standard will not cause security problems.
China Agricultural University He Jiguo
Now that food is really problematic, it is often caused by illegal additives, ie, non-food additives that are not on the list, such as Sudan Red, white lumps, and melamine.
China CDC expert Huo Junsheng
Everyone is always worried about additives and thinks what might happen. In fact, the rational use of additives in accordance with the regulations is safe to eat.
According to statistics, at present, 97% of processed foods contain additives, and the types of additives have also reached more than 2,300 kinds. Is the use of additives harmful to public safety? How does a substance become an additive? How are food additives and non-edible substances supervised?
On these issues, Chen Junshi, a food safety expert and academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Huo Junsheng of the Nutrition and Food Safety Institute of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and the director of the Department of Nutrition and Food Safety of the College of Food Science and Technology at China Agricultural University, recently accepted an interview with this reporter. Experts frankly stated that foods that use food additives in a formal manner can be safely assured; however, the abuse of food additives and illegal additives is difficult to regulate.
Contains carcinogenic ingredients as additives
Beijing News: There are thousands of food additives. How are they identified?
Huo Junsheng: In our country, a list of substances included in food additives is subject to a series of rigorous evaluations, and safety assessment is the primary content.
In the assessment, it is necessary to analyze the laws and regulations of various countries and their applications, analyze the technical assessment materials and recommendations of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, investigate traditional food habits, and report adverse reactions.
Beijing News: Did safety assessments such as nitrite and "flour brightener" have been made before they became food additives?
Huo Junsheng: Yes.
Beijing News: Has the additives already used in other countries been evaluated in China?
Huo Junsheng: No. To enter the list of food additives in China must be reviewed by the expert committee. For example, Sudan, although it is used in other countries, it does not enter the list of additives in our country and its use is illegal.
Beijing News: How is the safety assessment of the prevailing additives carried out?
Huo Junsheng: First, it is a universal animal toxicology experiment. If there is a safety problem in the experiment, the possibility of applying the substance as an additive is basically denied.
The second is the crowd data. Some of the substances traditionally used for food additives were later found to have adverse effects on the human body and were also deactivated.
Beijing News: What is the toxicological experiment process?
Huo Junsheng: It is mainly to observe some series of safety indicators of the substance, such as the semi-lethal dose, mutagenicity, teratogenicity, genotoxicity, carcinogenesis, and the status of the body and body biochemical indicators after feeding.
Beijing News: How many kinds of problems can there be?
Huo Junsheng: No one will appear.
Beijing News: We often see reports saying that long-term intake of food additives can cause cancer. Also, it is said that natural food additives are safer than chemical synthesis. Is that right?
Huo Junsheng: No matter whether it is a natural or synthetic food additive, it cannot be carcinogenic. Carcinogenic chemical synthetic substances or natural extracts cannot be used as food additives.
In addition, here I hope to clarify the concept for everyone, natural does not mean that safety, in fact, the most toxic toxins are mostly natural, such as tetrodotoxin, aflatoxin and so on.
Normal use of additives will not harm
Beijing News: Some people say that everyone will eat 100 kinds of additives a day. Do you think it is an exaggeration?
Huo Junsheng: There are no specific statistics, but as long as edible processed foods are eaten, it is normal to eat food additives. For example, when you drink, you will find pigments, flavors, and preservatives.
Beijing News: Is it harmful to the body?
Huo Junsheng: This should be based on observation data to evaluate, not empty talk. In fact, so far, major food safety incidents in China have been caused mainly by illegal additives, not food additives. Normal use of food additives in accordance with national standards is not hazardous.
Beijing News: How are the limits for the use of food additives formulated?
Huo Junsheng: To obtain the maximum non-effect dose and the minimum effective dose of this substance through experimental observation.
Based on the maximum no-effect dose, consider dividing by a safety factor as the maximum use limit for the substance.
Beijing News: In China's food additive standards, what is the general choice of coefficient?
Huo Junsheng: Generally 100 or 200. For example, suppose that the maximum non-effect dose of a substance is 100 mg per kilogram of body weight per day, and considering the setting of a safety factor of 100, the maximum amount of additive of the substance should not exceed 1 mg per kilogram of body weight per day.
Beijing News: But different foods have the same additives, or people will eat different types of food additives every day. Does this accumulation affect health?
Huo Junsheng: When assessing the technology, experts have considered the problem of additive food additives. Accumulation is also the core of food additive technology management.
Beijing News: Why do some countries have different safety requirements? For example, the EU standards that we often mention are lower than the amount of some additives in China?
He Jiguo: For example, the safety of some additives is 1, but some countries can only add 0.5. Some will regard this as a technical barrier and protect their own country’s industry. For example, why not import Chinese food? They will say because you do not meet our requirements. In fact, it is not necessarily a security issue that exceeds their requirements. The key is to look beyond the limit.
Small businesses abuse the supervision of additives
Beijing News: In fact, some additives have been abused, such as preservatives.
He Jiguo: There are two kinds of abuse, one is more than the prescribed amount of use, one is more than the scope of use. However, I did not see any reports that exceeded or exceeded the amount that caused the problem.
Chen Junshi: Abuse at this stage is not uncommon, but it is not a common phenomenon. Although not regulated, it does not seem to be a big problem in terms of security.
Beijing News: Why is it abused?
He Jiguo: First, producers do not understand and have not been added as required. There is also the fact that because of the deterioration of the raw materials, the producers use flavors and flavoring agents to change their form and cover up the original defects. This is also not allowed. There is also a defect in the processing environment. For example, raw materials are fresh, but the processing environment is not qualified. Added preservatives.
Beijing News: How to ensure that small companies use food additives, will not exceed the limit?
Huo Junsheng: It is very difficult. The inspection of additives is very difficult for both countries and companies, and if thousands of inspections are made, the cost will be very high.
In addition, some enterprises have unconsciously excessive additives. For example, flour companies are adding brighteners by volume, but companies that manufacture brighteners have already added more solvents.
This is a quality chain, so food additives are a moral issue.
Beijing News: How does the law enforcement agency monitor this situation?
He Jiguo: This can't be checked.
Now that food is really problematic, it is often caused by illegal additives, ie, non-food additives such as Sudan Red, white lumps, and melamine.
Beijing News: Can't we avoid illegal additives from the system design?
He Jiguo: No. You see a man casually on the street. Do you know that he will sin? Unless he takes a knife and commits a crime, you can check it.
Beijing News: What do you mean is that you can only check if something goes wrong. For example, "poisoned milk" thing, out of "stone baby" to check.
He Jiguo: Yes.
Beijing News: This may cost life.
He Jiguo: This is the case in many cases. Of course, there are several situations in which illegal additives can be detected. One is to check for illegal additions in the past; the other is to conduct inspections through reports.
Beijing News: Can illegal additives not be solved by supervision?
He Jiguo: This is by no means a problem that can be solved simply by supervision. In terms of short-term measures, I believe that all purchases and applications should be registered for registration so that these substances cannot be brought into the hands of illegal food processors. The implementation of heavy penalties for offenders makes them afraid to use them.
The long-term solution is to increase the awareness of food processing companies.
Beijing News: Can any kind of substance be added to food and can it be detected?
Huo Junsheng: This is divided into two cases. First, the economy is adulterated. Its purpose is to obtain economic benefits, so it is easier to check. For example, protein content is an important technical indicator of milk, in order to add less milk but the protein content can meet the requirements, someone will add high nitrogen content. Checking in this direction makes it easy to find illegal additives.
In addition, it is very difficult to detect if there is no purpose to add some substances to the food.
Of course, adulteration of non-purpose behavior is actually very rare.
Modern food industry can not do without additives
Beijing News: When consumers choose foods, how do you know which additives are?
Huo Junsheng: China's food labeling regulations and standards require that all accessories and additives used in food packaging be marked. Get a packaged food, we can seriously look at the list of ingredients.
If you can't tell which ingredients in the ingredient list are food ingredients and which additives, you can also judge based on experience. Additives are mostly chemical names such as sodium benzoate, and food supplements are familiar material names such as vegetable oils, sugars, and so on.
Of course, this kind of judgment is not absolute either. Some ingredient lists indicate fragrances and spices. Although they are not chemical names, they are actually food additives.
Beijing News: There is a feeling that food additives are made to make food look more attractive.
Huo Junsheng: I can say that. In real life, I really squeezed a glass of juice. After a certain period of time, the color changed. The bacteria and fungi inside grew quickly. Would you still drink it? Additives can solve these problems.
Nowadays, most of the products are industrialized, and it is difficult to return to their own small-scale peasant economy. So there is a saying that the modern food industry can not do without food additives.
Beijing News: Adding food additives, nutrition, safety and freshly squeezed are the same?
Huo Junsheng: We are always worried about adding additives and think what may happen. In fact, the rational use of additives in accordance with the regulations is safe to eat.
Beijing News: However, many foods now begin to use "no added" as a selling point.
Huo Junsheng: Yes. In fact, many people are very worried about modern lifestyles and production methods, so advocating for nature, green, and organic has become a trend. Some companies saw this trend and used no-add as a marketing tool.
Abuse of food additives and illegal additives must be severely punished. If foods have additives, then ask, "What can we still eat now?" Indeed, some alarmist.
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