Since the introduction and cultivation of cacao trees by ancient Indians, human close contact with chocolate has been around for thousands of years.
In the early days, chocolate inherited the noble lineage of cocoa origin: it was expensive, only for the nobility and royal family, and was even used as a coin at one time. In the 19th century, the advent of solid chocolate made chocolate from the beverage world into the food world, completely rewriting history.
Today, chocolate has long since shed its coat of luxury and approached the general public. According to data from the 2013 China International Forum on Chocolate and Cocoa Development, the annual output of chocolate in the country in 2012 was about 280,000 tons, about 215g per person, which is not counting the number of imports.
This time, 15 chocolates containing nuts sent by Youke.com (okoer.com) for inspection have uneven performance. 2 paragraphs a (excellent), 6 b (good), 2 paragraphs c (medium), 5 paragraphs received d (poor) or d- (warning). The two models tied for the top spot were the Lindt and Snickers, while Phyllaire, Dove, m&m's Chocolate Beans and Meiji were at the bottom due to a variety of problems, including mineral oil.
Deduct points for mineral oil from large households or from packaging and auxiliaries
In this test of okoer.com, all 15 products were detected with mineral oil components, two of which were traces.
Mineral oil is a general term for a series of products obtained from petroleum fractionation, including liquefied petroleum gas, gasoline, kerosene, lubricating oil, paraffin wax and other substances, mineral oil found in food mainly includes saturated hydrocarbon mineral oil (mosh) and aromatic hydrocarbon mineral oil (moah) two categories.
"Mineral oil may come from printing inks for food packaging materials, and such substances can migrate into food after contact with food, especially foods with high fat content, and are more likely to migrate." Professor Zhang Qinfa of the Department of Packaging Engineering of the Food College of South China Agricultural University analyzed that the use of completely ink-free wrapping paper or log pulp paper will reduce this risk.
In addition, Wang Xuede, a professor at the College of Grain, Oil and Food of Henan University of Technology, introduced that mineral oil pollution in food may also come from processing aids and pollution in the production process.
In addition, mineral oil can be used as a lubricant, defoamer, mold release agent, etc. in the production of grease and confectionery, and may be brought into food. Mineral oil has a strong permeability, and leakage may occur in the equipment during the production process, thus contaminating the product.
Children are advised not to consume foods containing mineral oil as much as possible
The "Standard for the Use of Food Additives" gb 2760-2014 states that mineral oil can be used in fermentation processes, confectionery and other processing processes, but does not stipulate specific limit requirements. However, the international general code of food additives cxs 192-2014 stipulates that the maximum use of high-viscosity mineral oil as a defoamer, polish for cocoa and chocolate products is 2000mg/kg.
Wang Xuede introduced that food processing aids should generally be removed before making finished products, and under normal circumstances, mineral oil should not be immersed in food, but due to process equipment, operation, management and other reasons, it may lead to food contamination by mineral oil.
Chinese the core journal "China Oil" once published an article that mineral oil will cause damage to the digestive system in the human body, cause nausea, vomiting and other symptoms, cause sudden food poisoning, and even lead to coma, etc., and may accumulate in the body's liver, kidneys, fat and other tissues.
Wang Xuede said that mineral oil cannot be absorbed and digested by the human body, but harmful substances such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons carried by it may enter the blood system and induce cell mutations. Therefore, children are advised not to consume foods containing mineral oil as much as possible.
Although these products tested this time meet national standards, from the perspective of being responsible for consumers, Youke.com believes that manufacturers should more strictly regulate the production process and avoid the appearance of mineral oil in food.
Mars 1 product contains a variety of synthetic colorants
The ingredient list labeled for m&m's Peanut Milk Chocolate Bean contains a variety of synthetic colorants such as lemon yellow, sunset yellow, temptation red and bright blue, which has been downgraded by two levels.
According to a 2014 article in the academic journal Analytical Chemistry, lemon yellow has a direct causal relationship with mice's behaviors such as ADHD, anxiety, and depression. China Food Safety News also shows that there is no conclusive evidence that synthetic colorants can affect children's health or cause ADHD. As long as it is used in accordance with the standard, both natural and synthetic colors are safe.
Several colorants marked in this product have strict limit requirements in the "Food Additive Use Standard" gb 2760-2014. Considering that children eat relatively more of this type of product, Youke.com has downgraded this type of ingredient based on the consideration of more optimized products.
Youke.com sent 15 chocolates, of which only two can be enjoyed with confidence, namely the Swiss classic row of Lindt Swiss --Tizi Nut Milk Chocolate and Snickers Peanuts Sandwich Chocolate.
6 products received b (good), 2 c (medium), 1 d (poor). The remaining 4 products were only given d- (warning) due to excessive controversy and problem ingredients.
The cocoa content of the 6 chocolate models is no different from the product label
When testing the cocoa content in chocolate, the laboratory needs to heat the product, and the high temperature can cause the oil in the nuts contained in the product to spill and transfer to the chocolate. At this time, if the nut content in the product is high, the spilled nut oil will affect the cocoa butter test results.
That's why we have only tested 6 types of chocolate in rows in accordance with the requirements of the EU Directive directive 2000/36/ec. The results showed that the cocoa content of the 6 products was consistent with the label label, and no cocoa butter or other fats were detected in the products.
The other 9 products did not undergo this test due to their chocolate content relative to the nut content.
Mineral oil is the focus of the deduction of points for 13 products
Mineral oil is the hardest hit area for the downgrade caused by this test. All 15 products submitted for inspection were detected with mineral oil components, of which 13 products had high content.
Mineral oils found in food mainly include mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons (mosh) and mineral oil aromatic hydrocarbons (moah).
According to the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BFR), mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons (MOSH) accumulate in a variety of human organs and have been shown in animal experiments to cause damage to the liver and lymph. The harm of mineral oil aromatic hydrocarbons (moah) to the body is not yet fully certain, although it may contain carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Therefore, even if the product only detects a small amount of moah, it will cause a downgrade of 2 levels.
Moah was detected in four products, including Phyllerol Classic Fragrant Hazelnut Milk Chocolate, Dove Raw Hazelnut, Badan wood and raisin chocolate, Meiji Macadamia Chocolate Filling, and whittaker's Almond Milk Flavored Chocolate.
For mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons, the downgrade situation depends on its content, divided into 3 grades, that is, the higher the content, the more downgrades: high - downgraded 1 level; significantly high - downgraded 2 levels; ultra-large high - downgraded 4 levels. m&m's Peanut Milk Chocolate Beans was therefore downgraded by 4.
Where does mineral oil come from? The question is unclear. It may come from the product packaging, manufacturing process, or it may originate during the storage of nuts.
All 15 products were downgraded due to flavors
Flavor is added to all products sent for testing. Adding natural or artificial flavors produced by biotechnology to foods can balance and standardize product differences, such as vanilla flavors, which are often used to refine product tastes.
We evaluated the flavors added to the products based on the labeling of the product labels. Most manufacturers directly label "fragrance", and usually, additives that are labeled as "flavor" or "fragrance" are produced by chemical synthesis.
"Vanillin" and "synthetic vanillin" appear 4 times – here is undoubtedly synthetic flavor.
The labels of the 4 models contain "natural flavors". "Natural flavors" can be extracted from products derived from animals, plants or microorganisms, such as bacteria or fungi. This extract can have the flavor of a food, such as strawberry.
Whittaker's Almond Milk Flavored Chocolate and Belle Man Shell Chocolate are labeled on the packaging with "Edible Flavor" and "Vanilla Flavored Flavor". We asked both manufacturers whether synthetic vanillin or real vanilla extract was added, but we didn't get any feedback. We estimate that these two manufacturers are also adding natural flavors derived from synthetic or biotechnological extraction. We have downgraded all products containing these additives by 1.
Without a single manufacturer labeling the addition of natural vanilla extract or genuine bourbon vanilla extract, the use of such real natural flavors will not be downgraded.
m&m's chocolate beans contain a variety of synthetic colorants
M&m's Peanut Milk Chocolate Beans are coated in a colorful icing, but beneath this beautiful exterior are health risks, especially the yellow dye lemon yellow.
Lemon yellow is an edible coloring (e102) and cosmetic colorant (ci 19140). Scholars at the Scripps Clinic in the United States and the University of Bonn in Germany have found that this pigment can cause allergic reactions such as rash, itching, edema, asthma, and runny nose after swallowing. In addition, academics at the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom published a study in the journal The Lancet that lemon yellow may affect children's attention.
Although lemon yellow is widely used in the European Union, it can be found in candy, pudding powder, desserts, spices or ice cream. However, according to regulation (ec) no 1333/2008, from 2010 onwards, FOODS CONTAINING IN THE EU MUST BE CLEARLY LABELED AS "LIKELY NEGATIVELY AFFECTING ACTIVITY AND ATTENTION IN CHILDREN", INCLUDING QUINOLINE YELLOW (E104), LEMON YELLOW (E102), SUNSET YELLOW (E110), AZO RED (E122), CARMINE (E124=CI 16255) AND LUMINOUS RED (E129).
The UK Food Standards Agency recommends that parents of children with ADHD should avoid letting their children eat foods containing the above pigments, and encourage manufacturers to voluntarily give up using such pigments.
In m&m's Peanut Milk Chocolate Beans, not only lemon yellow is added, but also temptation red and sunset yellow. So we've downgraded this product by 2 levels.
Emulsifiers, packaging materials "God repair knife"
Polyglyceryl ricinolate (e476) was detected in three types of chocolate: Hershey's Kiss Almond Milk Chocolate, Rezi Peanut Milk Chocolate Bar and Meiji Macadamia Fill chocolate. Researchers at the British company Unilever found in animal experiments that e476 causes liver and kidney enlargement. We have downgraded our products using polyglyceryl ricinolate (e476) by 1 each.
In addition to the ingredients, UC also rates its packaging. If PVC, PEG or chloride is found in product packaging during laboratory testing, it will be downgraded in other defect specific scores, as chlorides can pollute the environment during their production and waste disposal. In this test, we detected ONLY PVC, POLYVINYL CHLORIDE or CHLORIDE in one product package.
Harmful toxins, molds, etc. were not detected
Because all products sent for test contain nuts that often produce mycotoxins, and cocoa beans may not be stored as required and prone to ochratoxin, we have tested for such mycotoxins. The good news is that all products were not detected with aflatoxin. Some products detected with ochratoxin were also not downgraded due to their very low levels.
Ochre mycotoxin can cause damage to the body's immune system, liver and kidneys, and has been shown to be carcinogenic in animal tests. Aflatoxin is a metabolite of mycotoxins, which is suitable for its growth in a warm and humid environment, is regarded as a highly toxic substance and is carcinogenic to various organisms.
The laboratory we commissioned found neither Salmonella nor the problematic perchlorate in the products sent for testing. The detected hazardous substance chlorate is only a trace amount and does not affect the product rating.
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