Food additives are synthetic or natural substances added to food to improve the quality and color, aroma and taste of food, or to the needs of preservative, fresh and processing technology. According to functional food additives, it can be divided into 22 categories, including acidity regulators, anti-caking agents, defoamers, antioxidants, bleaching agents, leavening agents, colorants, colorants, coloring agents, enzyme preparations, flavor enhancers, nutritional enhancers, preservatives, sweeteners, thickeners, flavors, etc. Many people talk about additive discoloration, especially the most misunderstood preservatives, believing that merchants add them uncontrollably in order to extend the shelf life of food, at the expense of consumer health. In fact, most consumers have demonized preservatives, they are not terrible.
Preservatives are added to preserves, pastries, pickles, and cooked meat products
First of all, preservatives are a type of food additives that can inhibit microbial activities and prevent food spoilage. The main role in food is to inhibit the multiplication of harmful bacteria, prevent bacteria from producing toxins in food, or cause diseases in large numbers. Compared with the harm caused by foodborne diseases caused by bacteria, preservatives have little impact on human health, and even some preservatives have lower toxicity than the same dose of table salt, but they can prevent harmful bacteria from multiplying in food, and their contribution to human beings cannot be underestimated. For example, potassium sorbate has strong antibacterial power, low toxicity, and can participate in the normal metabolism of the human body, converted into CO2 and water.
Several common preservatives and categories used in food
Secondly, the state has strict requirements for the use of additives in food. China's national food safety standard GB 2760-2014 "Food Additive Use Standard" stipulates the scope of use, maximum use or residue of more than 3,000 kinds of additives in various types of food. So far, China has approved 32 kinds of food preservatives, all of which are low toxicity, high safety substances, have undergone a large number of scientific experiments before being approved for use, and stipulate the dosage limits of these preservatives in food according to sufficient toxicological evaluation and actual use surveys. Usually the production enterprises are not only familiar with the national laws and regulations and standards, but also have a standardized quality management system and standardized production processes, and the abuse of preservatives is relatively rare in prepackaged food. Therefore, as long as the amount of preservatives added is within the scope of national standards, it will not cause damage to human health, and consumers can rest assured that they can eat.
The national standard GB 2760-2014 "Food Additive Use Standard" stipulates the maximum use of some preservatives in food
Third, GB 2760-2014 "Standard for the Use of Food Additives" also stipulates that when using more than two similar additives in food, the sum of the proportions of each dosage to its maximum use should not exceed 1. For example, the maximum allowable addition of sorbic acid in bread is 1.0g/kg, and the maximum allowable amount of dehydroacetic acid is 0.5g/kg; if there is a producer who adds sorbic acid 0.6g/kg and dehydroacetic acid 0.4g/kg to bread, the sum of the proportion of preservatives is: 0.6/1.0 + 0.4/0.5 = 1.4, which is also not in line with national standards. This is also one of the common reasons for the unqualified food that has been sampled in recent years, which is ultimately caused by the lack of understanding of the use principles of additives by production enterprises or inaccurate feeding in the production process.
The national standard GB 2760-2014 "Standard for the Use of Food Additives" stipulates the rules for the use of more than 3,000 kinds of additives
We as consumers should rationally look at preservatives, they have greatly reduced the incidence of food bacterial poisoning in recent decades; but at the same time there are some non-standard production and operation businesses, they often lack food safety knowledge and do not understand China's food standards, should add preservatives without adding, or unlimited indiscriminately, or use chemical substances that the country does not allow to use to achieve the purpose of extending the shelf life, posing a threat to consumer health. For example, some aquatic products sell commercial formalin (formaldehyde solution) to prevent the spoilage of aquatic products and cover up their deterioration of quality, which is absolutely prohibited.