China Net Finance, May 14 Hefu Lao Noodles, known for its "green, healthy and healthy", once again fell into the whirlpool of public opinion. Previously, during the 315 period of this year, Hefu Lao Mian was on the hot search because it was exposed to the use of cooking packages, and this time it was not only the use of cooking packages that was "hammered", but also the ingredient list containing a variety of food additives. Focusing on "organic ingredients, Chinese health", Hefu Lao Mein, its high-end and healthy brand image is experiencing a serious crisis.
Today, the well-known short video blogger "Monkey Big Wrist" posted an article breaking the news that Hefu Lao noodles "from the soup base to the noodles, the toppings to the side dishes, the ingredients used are all packages with a shelf life of up to half a year to one year", and some stores even put the packages directly in boiling water to heat, "not sure whether it will lead to the precipitation of toxic and harmful substances such as plasticizers".
The blogger said that he tried to take some of the packages from the store for inspection, but was rejected by the staff on the grounds that "it involved R&D secrets". In the face of his questions about the ingredient list of the cooking package and the operation process of the kitchen, the government did not reply, and only refunded the order.
The ingredient list of "slow-boiled chicken soup" is up to 6 rows
"Butyl hydroxyanisole , sodium dehydroacetate, tert-butyl p-propylquinone...... A slow-boiled chicken soup, the ingredient list turned out to be 6 rows. According to the content of the "Monkey Big Wrist" video, the soup base used in the kitchen of Hefu Lao noodles posted by him is actually a liquid compound seasoning diluted with water before eating.
Source: The official website of the brand
The video shows that the "slow-boiled chicken soup" of Hefu Lao Mian is a chicken soup compound seasoning made of three antioxidants (tert-butylhydroquinone, butyl hydroxy Jane Aromatic Ether, gallate) and three food additives (acetate starch, potassium sorbate, sodium dehydroacetate) and so on. You must know that the soup base, as an important selling point of Hefu Chinese-style health noodles, has always been the main focus on "herbal soup, a bowl of health".
In addition to slow-boiling chicken soup, "Monkey Big Wrist" also posted a variety of toppings and snacks such as egg noodles, chlamydomonas egg noodles, snowflake plum meat, soft glutinous pork cartilage, hand-split crab powder, garlic chicken wings, etc., which contain a variety of antioxidants, food additives and preservatives in the ingredient list. In the face of such complex ingredients, the blogger was puzzled, "How can the health and health claimed by Hefu be all about technology and ruthlessness?" ”
"It's equivalent to the flavor is added"
In this regard, Professor Liu Shaowei of the International School of Medical Technology of Shanghai Sanda University analyzed that the additives in the above products have different effects. For example, tert-butylhydroquinone has a good antioxidant effect, and it does not cause peculiar smell and odor when added to any oil and oily food; Whereas, potassium sorbate and sodium dehydroacetate are preservatives that can extend the shelf life.
"There are 10 kinds of moisture retention agents allowed to be used in the mainland, such as sodium tripolyphosphate, sodium hexametaphosphate, sodium pyrophosphate, disodium hydrogen phosphate, sodium dihydrogen phosphate, etc., and there are more eggs in Fulao noodles, and there are several kinds of phosphates." Liu Shaowei pointed out that according to the notice jointly issued by the six national ministries and commissions some time ago, preservatives are not allowed to be added to prefabricated dishes, so if you see preservatives, they do not belong to the scope of prefabricated dishes, and they are products produced according to other standards.
An industry insider, who did not want to be named, said, "The so-called slow-boiling is basically impossible, and in the slow-boiled chicken soup exposed by Hefu Lao Noodles, yeast extract and disodium nucleotide provide umami, and the back is flavor, which is equivalent to the taste is added, and these things are not eaten." ”
Liu Shaowei also suggested that if consumers are resistant to food additives, they should not choose such products, and can choose some restaurants that cook on site.
After the opening of the joint operation, the net increase in stores was only 14
In fact, since its establishment in 2012, Hefu Lao Mian has taken the "high-end" route with the positioning of "health noodles in the study". Relying on a more high-end decoration, brand vision and stores in shopping malls, if you want to eat a bowl of noodles in Hefu, it once cost at least forty or fifty yuan.
Not only that, Hefu will also launch crab roe noodles with a price of up to 108 yuan from time to time, coupled with a series of cultural and health concepts, the high premium is also defaulted to quality assurance by the consumer side.
However, as the cost-effective food and beverage consumption has become the mainstream demand, the "high-end" route of Hefu Lao Mian has become more and more difficult. The consumer side is voting with their feet, giving an answer to the degree of acceptance of Hefu Lao noodles.
According to the statistics of Jihai brand monitoring data, in the past two years, more than 460 new stores have been opened and more than 190 stores have been closed, and as of January this year, the brand has more than 560 stores in operation, with a comprehensive store closure rate of 25%.
In order to expand market share and find new growth points, Hefu Lao Mian announced the official opening of the joint operation at the end of last year, but the latest data from Narrow Door Restaurant Eye shows that the number of existing stores of the Hefu Lao Mian brand has not broken through, and as of May this year, there are still only 574 stores, which is far from the scale of 10,000 stores expected by founder Li Xuelin.
Hefu Lao Mian remained silent
At present, more and more media have paid attention to the problems of Hefu Lao Noodle Store without a chef, and the packets distributed by the central kitchen are heated and squeezed into the noodle bowl.
China.com Finance noticed that before the definition of prefabricated dishes was introduced, Hefu Lao Mian was on the hot search on Weibo during the 3.15 year because of discussions such as #Being exposed to contain prefabricated dishes#. Phoenix Weekly wrote an article bluntly, "A bowl of noodles, the soup base comes from the preparation of technology and hard work, and the toppings come from the package with a shelf life of more than 100 days. ”
At that time, in the face of public opinion pressure, Hefu Lao Mian did not respond positively, only saying that "the food in the store was indeed made on the same day".
In this regard, some media commented at the time, "What consumers are worried about is: if it is really a material package, then what is in the package that is alleged to have a shelf life of more than 3 months?" Are there any additives in it? If additives are placed, are the dosages compliant? None of these concerns can be dispelled by the phrase 'made on the same day'. ”
Now, doubts are on the table again, and the questions are becoming clearer. China.com Finance has contacted the relevant person in charge of Fulao Noodles for verification many times, but has not received a reply as of press time.
(Editor in charge: Tan Mengtong)