The ingredient "vanillin" may be seen by many mothers in the pastries, candies, cold drinks, and milk powder that they eat for their babies, but they are not familiar with it.
What is vanillin? For what the baby eats, can you choose a product with vanillin?
As a common ingredient in food, vanillin's safety has also been highly valued by national regulatory authorities and authoritative institutions at home and abroad, and has also made special interpretations.
Let's start with the conclusion:
The State Administration of Market Regulation of the Mainland, the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations have all affirmed that the rational use of vanillin is safe for babies!
01
National Food and Drug Administration: Vanillin is safe for the human body
In 2016, the State Food and Drug Administration explained in the third issue of the "Food Safety Risk Analysis" that the rational use of vanillin is safe, and this article was later included in the "Food Safety Risk Analysis" Compilation (2014-2018) issued by the State Administration for Market Regulation.
The article "Scientific Interpretation of Vanillin" mainly explains several key points:
First, vanillin is a widely used flavor worldwide.
Vanillin is a substance extracted from the seeds of the large orchid family plant Vanilla, which is naturally present in vanilla beans, and has been used as a spice for thousands of years, and in the 19th century, synthetic vanillin with exactly the same natural structure appeared.
Vanilla
Because vanillin has a milk flavor, it is widely used in the food industry, and it is common in the chocolate, snacks, bread and other foods we usually eat, and the vanilla-flavored ice cream that everyone often eats is an example.
According to statistics, the annual fragrance of vanillin used in food in the world is more than 10,000 tons. Vanillin has been produced independently in the mainland for many years, and it is also one of the earliest food additives in the mainland to formulate national standards.
Second, the rational use of vanillin is safe.
In view of the importance of vanillin to the food industry, the global food technology community is very concerned about its safety, after a large number of studies and evaluations, it is believed that the rational use of vanillin is safe for the human body, and the results of this view are equally applicable to infants and young children.
Third, the use of vanillin has been recognized by relevant organizations and regulations.
The Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) of the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has evaluated the safety of vanillin, which has resulted in the use of vanillin in food and the development of relevant quality specifications.
European countries have used vanillin in food for nearly two hundred years, and the current EU regulations do not stipulate the scope and amount of its use.
In the mainland, in accordance with the provisions of the current "National Standard for Food Safety And Food Additive Use Standards" (GB2760-2014), vanillin, ethyl vanillin and vanilla bean extract (extract) can be used in larger infant and infant formula foods, and their maximum use is 5mg/100mL, 5mg/100mL and appropriate use according to production needs, of which 100mL is measured in ready-to-eat food, and production enterprises should be converted into the amount of use in formula food according to the proportion of punching Infant formulas that cover 0 to 6 months of use shall not add any food flavors.
The mainland's national standards for infant formula have just completed a new round of revision, but the provisions of the new and old national standards on vanillin are the same: 1 paragraph can not be added, 2 paragraphs and above can be reasonably and appropriately added.
The mainland stipulates the standards for the use of vanillin in infant formula
02
Vanillin can be added to formulas as prescribed
So why not add vanillin to 1 stage of milk powder?
In fact, vanillin is safe for babies. The stipulation that vanillin cannot be added to the mainland 1 stage of milk powder is not for safety reasons.
Dr. Zhong Kai, who is currently the director of the Food and Health Information Exchange Center of Kexin and a member of the Standing Committee of the Health Communication Branch of the Chinese Preventive Medicine Association, specifically explained:
"The reason why vanillin cannot be added to the formula of the first stage of the mainland is that infants aged 0 to 6 months are recommended to be pure breast milk, and if breast milk is insufficient or need to be suspended due to diseases and other reasons, then milk powder is needed. If vanillin is added, it is not conducive to the baby's return to breast milk.
After 6 months and 1 year old, parents will add various flavors of complementary foods to their children, and the recipes become complex and gradually move closer to adults, so there is no need to limit the introduction of various flavors. ”
Yun Wuxin, a member of the Science Squirrel Society and a doctor of food engineering at Purdue University in the United States, also said:
The reason why vanillin cannot be added to 1 stage of milk powder is because the formula of milk powder is designed to be closer to breast milk, the better, and there is no vanillin in breast milk, so there is no need to add it.
Therefore, although it is safe to add it to the health of the baby in the prescribed dose, the mainland also stipulates that vanillin cannot be added to 1 stage of milk powder.
Natural vanillin
The rational use of vanillin within a safe range, especially stage 3 milk powder, is conducive to improving children's appetite and consuming healthy dairy products.
From the beginning of eating complementary foods, babies will be exposed to various flavors. However, because formula milk powder needs to strengthen certain nutrients, such as slightly fishy DHA, the taste of milk powder will be different from the taste of rice noodles and fruit puree that the baby tastes, resulting in the baby's reluctance to eat.
Therefore, in the formula milk powder of 2 stages and above, the reasonable and appropriate amount of vanillin will help the child cultivate a balanced taste eating habit and continue to obtain the necessary nutrients from the milk powder.
On July 29, 2020, the National Health Commission issued the "Core Information on Infant Feeding Health Education", which clearly pointed out:
From birth to 3 years old, children are an important stage in the first 1,000 days of life, and scientific and good feeding is conducive to promoting children's health and laying a good foundation for their lifelong development.
Therefore, the rational and appropriate use of vanillin is safe for the baby, and it has certain benefits for the baby's balanced nutrition.
With the approval of the national regulatory authorities, are parents more at ease about the vanillin added to the baby's food?
I hope that this article can take parents out of the misunderstanding of "smelling fragrance and discoloration" and let the baby fully consume the necessary nutrients!
Resources:
1. Compilation of Food Safety Risk Analysis (2014-2018).
2. Zhang Shouwen Editor-in-Chief. Chinese Bakery Dictionary, Raw Materials and Accessories and Food Additives. Beijing:China Light Industry Press.2007.pp.278-279.
3. Yao Jingfang, Mu Min, Zhang Songpei. Overview of vanillin industry development[C]// The 10th China Symposium on Fragrances and Flavors. 0.
4. LV Xiaojie. Development status of vanillin industry[J]. Grain Distribution Technology, 2019(7).
5. Zheng Ye; WANG Hao; LIU Zhenhua; A Brief Analysis of the Principles of The Use of Food Additives: The Food Industry, 2012
6. China Food Safety Network "A Reading Vanillin: Scientific Addition Is Not Terrible"