Draw the point
★ At present, in our country, the addition of gold leaf to food is prohibited.
★ Edible gold leaf itself is non-toxic and has no effect on health.
★ In ancient times, people said that swallowing gold and dying was likely to be caused by physical damage or insufficient gold purity mixed with toxic substances.
With the improvement of people's "taste" of diet, some foods have also begun to "gilded" in order to look more high-end and eye-catching. For example, gold leaf wine, gold leaf cake, gold leaf chocolate, gold leaf ice cream and so on.
However, although the food "gilded" is beautiful, it must also be cautious, be careful of being punished!
In August 2021, a restaurant in Shanghai used gold leaf as a food ingredient, added and used it in the production of the dish "Grilled Wagyu Beef Sushi", and sold it for 48 yuan per serving, which was punished by the Shanghai Market Supervision Bureau.
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Coincidentally, on December 23, 2021, a restaurant in Hangzhou also received a fine of 100,000 yuan for decorating gold leaf as a selling point on dishes such as beef hand rolls, foie gras, and chocolate brownies.
The texture of this gold leaf is very thin, once it is placed on the food, it is difficult to pick it up, it is broken when you touch it, it is difficult to pick it out, and you can only eat it. If you count carefully, there are many delicacies that use gold leaf, but is it safe to eat gold leaf? In this article, we will talk about "gold leaf".
01
Is eating gold leaf harmful?
Some people think: gold is a heavy metal, will it be harmful to the body after eating it?
The answer is: no.
Eat a cake decorated with gold leaf | Figureworm creative
Gold itself is non-toxic, and the nature is stable, stomach acid can not digest it, eat the gold will be excreted with the digestive tract, will not remain in the body, will not lead to poisoning.
Moreover, in terms of quantity, edible gold leaf, made of pure gold processed into thin slices, the thickness is particularly special thin, only one ten-thousandth of a millimeter, gold leaf is so thin, even if you eat a little, the amount is generally very small, the little gold leaf added to the food will not endanger health.
02
Is it true that "swallowing gold and dying"?
Film and television dramas often see clips of "swallowing gold and committing suicide", such as You Erjie in "Dream of the Red Chamber", Qinglian in "Yanxi Raiders", and Mo Xueyi in "Beauty And Mind"... Since gold is non-toxic and does not poison people, why is there a scene of "swallowing gold and dying"?
This is mainly due to the physical damage caused by eating gold rather than chemical damage. If the swallowed gold is relatively large, it may lead to "choking death", or it may be because the swallowed gold has edges and angles, and the gastrointestinal tract is cut in the process of excreting gold by the body, causing heavy bleeding or infection leading to death.
Melted gold | Figureworm creative
In addition, the process of refining gold mainly includes two categories: the combined process of fire and wet method and the full wet process [1], if the purity of refining is not enough, it may contain impurities such as lead, silver, iron, copper, etc. If you eat gold with low purity, there will be a risk of heavy metal poisoning.
Gold in factory casting | Figureworm creative
03
Does China really not allow "gold leaf" to be added to food?
In foreign countries, the consumption of gold leaf is allowed to be used as a food additive, and it is quite common. In 1983, the Codex Alimentarius Commission of the World Health Organization officially included gold in the category of food additives, which can be used as a pigment. [2] At the historic meeting of Xi Jinping and Ma Ying-jeou in Singapore in 2015, there was a cold dish on the menu called "Golden Foil Skin Pig".
However, although the consumption of gold leaf is safe and can be used abroad, it cannot be added to food in China at present.
Even if you eat edible gold leaf, the body will not be able to digest it, and will only discharge it | Figureworm creative
In 2015, the official website of the National Health and Family Planning Commission published the "Letter of the General Office of the National Health and Family Planning Commission on Soliciting Opinions on The Proposed Approval of Gold Leaf as a New Variety of Food Additives", which intends to approve gold leaf as a new variety of food additives and allows it to be added to liquor, but there is no official approval document so far.
▲Picture: Screenshot of the document on the official website of the Health and Family Planning Commission
Why is it that China has not allowed the use of gold leaf in food so far? In fact, there is still a lot of controversy, which may be because of the following 6 points:
According to China's "Food Additives Use Standards", gold leaf is not a food additive.
Gold leaf is not a raw material for the production of food.
"Gold" is not an essential nutrient and does not need to be added.
Adding "gold" to food may fuel a "corrupt" ethos.
Add 0.02g/kg of gold to liquor, the cost is not high, but the price will soar, which is really a bit of "paper drunk gold fans".
Originally, drinking alcohol is harmful to health, and adding "gold" to liquor may prompt some people to drink for "gold", bringing greater health risks.
04
What else are the food decorations?
People are not unfamiliar with the decorations on food, you can see everywhere, in addition to the "gold leaf" mentioned in the news, there are the following 4 kinds of common decorations:
Rose petals: Rose petals are often used as decorations on birthday cakes, generally ornamental varieties and cannot be eaten. Edible roses are limited to a few specially bred edible varieties. Roses have a seductive aroma, and there are 57 aromatic components in the preliminary qualitative roses, mainly some alcohols and aldehydes,[3] let us sigh at the moment we open the lid of the birthday cake: Wow! What a fragrance!
Delicious cake with rose petals | Figureworm creative
Chocolate: Chocolate is also a common decoration on cakes. However, in order to save costs, merchants generally use chocolate substitutes for cocoa butter, containing trans fatty acids, which increase the risk of obesity and cardiovascular disease, but occasionally eat less problem.
If you usually like to eat chocolate, it is recommended to choose pure dark chocolate, the first place in the ingredient list is cocoa butter, and the cocoa content is 65 to 75%, which is rich in taste and not too bitter, which is acceptable.
Syrup: Syrup decoration is often used in desserts to create cute little shapes and add interest to the food. However, syrup is an added sugar, according to the "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents" recommended that it is best not to exceed 25 grams per person per day, and the less you eat, the better.
Syrup decoration, cute love | Figureworm creative
Carrots: Carrots are tougher than other soft vegetables, and you can cut out different words and graphics, such as making "Happy Birthday" text when making birthday noodles, and orange "carrot petals" on dishes. The most prominent nutrient of carrots is β-carotene, which can be converted into vitamin A in the body, which is beneficial to eye health.
The people take food as the sky, and food takes safety as the first. Adding "edible gold leaf" to food as an embellishment is indeed a "plus" in appearance, and there is no harm in eating it. But at present, china is still not allowed, businesses do not take risks, consumers must also be rational!
Author | Xue Qingxin Member of Chinese Nutrition Society Registered Nutrition Technician Health Manager Public Dietitian
Audit | Song Shuang, Associate Researcher, Institute of Nutrition and Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention
Edit | Jiang Fan
Editor-in-charge | Ding Song
bibliography:
Dong Dexi, Hu Chunrong, Qin Xiaopeng, etc. Discussion on the current situation and development direction of gold refining technology in China[C].//Proceedings of the First National Gold Refining Academic Conference.2004:5-9.
[2] GOLD (METALLIC). Evaluations of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA)
Chen Yurong, Li Jixin, Hang Jie, etc. Correlation analysis between carotenoids and "Damascus" rose flower aroma composition[J].Food Science,2016,37(10):170-175.DOI:10.7506/spkx1002-6630-201610029.
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