Peninsula all-media reporter Wang Yuan
Pastries sprinkled with gold leaf, ice cream with gold leaf, drinks soaked in gold leaf... In recent years, edible gold leaf and silver leaf have set off a "wind of eating gold" in the field of gastronomy, and in the future, it is illegal to reproduce and operate this "gold-containing cuisine"!
On February 10, Peninsula All-Media Reporters learned from the Qingdao Municipal Market Supervision Bureau that a few days ago, the State Administration for Market Regulation, the National Health Commission, and the General Administration of Customs issued the "Notice on Investigating and Punishing illegal Acts of Producing and Operating Food Containing Gold and Silver Foil Powder" (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice"), which clarified that gold and silver foil powder is not a food additive, and food production and operation entities must not purchase, use, or produce and sell meals containing gold and silver foil powder; the online trading platform is removed from shelves according to law, and the sales of those that have been imported are immediately stopped Severely crack down on the illegal act of falsely publicizing the edibleness of gold and silver foil powder.
Strike hard! Not for sale in food preparations
The three departments made it clear in the "Notice" that according to the mainland's food safety laws and regulations and food safety standards, gold (silver) foil gold (silver) powder substances (hereinafter referred to as gold and silver foil powder) are not food additives and cannot be used in food production and operation.
The "Notice" requires that market supervision departments at all levels strictly supervise food safety, "food producers shall not purchase and use gold and silver foil powder to produce processed food, food sellers shall not purchase and sell food containing gold and silver foil powder, and catering service providers shall not make and sell meals containing gold and silver foil powder". Customs departments at all levels should strictly supervise the safety of imports, and food importers must not import food containing gold and silver foil powder, and if they have already imported, they should immediately stop selling.
The "Notice" requires strict supervision of online transactions, strengthen the qualification review of business operators within the platform, and strictly prohibit business operators on the platform from selling food containing gold and silver foil powder. Strengthen the monitoring of online transactions of "food containing gold and silver foil powder" and "edible gold and silver foil powder", and promptly supervise and urge online trading platforms to take disposal measures such as removing shelves in accordance with law.
Illegal! Resolutely curb the "wind of eating gold"
The "Circular" emphasizes that strict advertising supervision, market supervision departments at all levels should severely crack down on the use of food to add gold and silver foil powder as a gimmick to promote extravagance and hedonism, money worship and other advertising and propaganda behaviors that violate the good social customs, and strictly investigate and deal with false and illegal advertisements that publicize the addition of gold and silver foil powder to food with health care functions and therapeutic effects in accordance with the law.
To severely crack down on violations of laws and regulations, all relevant departments should intensify law enforcement, severely crack down on the illegal acts of producing and trading food containing gold and silver foil powder, severely crack down on the illegal acts of falsely publicizing the edibleness of gold and silver foil powder, and severely crack down on the illegal acts of importing food containing gold and silver foil powder. Once relevant illegal conduct is verified, it will be strictly and promptly investigated and dealt with in accordance with law; where a crime is suspected, it will be transferred to the public security organ for criminal responsibility in accordance with law.
The "Notice" also encourages all sectors of society to supervise, smooth the channels for complaints and reports, actively create a good consumption environment, and resolutely curb the "wind of food and gold".
Reporter Investigation:
Available online, "edible" and "gold content" are selling points
It is not difficult to find out from the information that "food gold" has existed in the mainland since ancient times, but most of them are used for medicine. The "Compendium of Materia Medica" records: "Eat gold, town spirit, strong bone marrow, tongli five visceral evil qi, serve the gods." In particular, gold leaf into the pill scattered, break the air conditioning, remove the wind."
In recent years, with the improvement of living standards, the "wind of food gold" has become popular in the field of gastronomy. The interviewed consumers told the Peninsula All-Media reporter that in the consumption scenes such as pastries and desserts, ice cream, and Western food, gold leaf embellishment and decoration are common. In terms of health porridge and exquisite meals, gold leaf and silver foil have become "synonymous" for health maintenance and beauty care, and female consumers say that they "feel very high-grade". Male consumers said that the addition of gold leaf and silver foil in drinks, drinks and banquets must be expensive, and the meaning also goes beyond beauty, "becoming a symbol of taste and consumption ability".
On February 10, the reporter entered keywords such as "edible gold leaf", "cake decoration gold leaf edible" and "gold leaf food" on the online shopping platform, showing "no search results", indicating that the "Notice" has shown that the normative effect of the "Notice" on the online trading platform "strictly prohibits sales" and "removes from shelves according to law" has emerged.
Subsequently, the reporter entered "edible gold" for a vague search and found that there were still stores selling gold leaf. In a food store, 25 sheets of gold leaf with a specification of 8 * 8cm are priced at 185.9 yuan, and 100 sheets of gold leaf with a specification of 9.33 * 9.33 cm are priced at 884 yuan, and the merchants marked "edible", "99% gold content" and "99 real gold" as the most eye-catching selling points, and showed the relevant test reports.
In a gold leaf flagship store with a display address of Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, 1g of real gold shreds is priced at 540 yuan, 1g24K of pure gold shreds is priced at 445 yuan, and 1g18K of pure shredded gold is priced at 400 yuan. In another snack shop, 100 sheets of 10.9*10.9cm gold leaf are priced at 1807.07 yuan, and 500 sheets of 9.33*9.33cm specification gold leaf are priced at 5108.2 yuan, and marked "edible" and "98%gold content".
At the same time, the reporter noted that many gold leaf sales stores also marked "inedible". Most gold leaf sales stores in the "use", marked is decoration materials, handicraft production, beauty, decoration, etc.
It is also understood that in foreign countries, the use of edible gold leaf is common, in 1983, the World Health Organization Food Additives Codex Commission included gold in the category of food additives, which can be used as a pigment. But on the mainland, there has never been a standard that allows gold to be used as a food additive.