What do you usually eat for breakfast? Everyone's taste may be different: some people like to eat fritters and porridge, some people like to eat buns and porridge, and some people like porridge and pickles...
Drinking bowls of porridge for breakfast is a habit of many people since childhood. Many people do not have the conditions to cook porridge by themselves, so they go to the breakfast shop to buy boiled porridge. However, after a TV station's secret visit, many finished porridges on the market are not! Yes! drink!
This secret interview concluded that most of the finished porridge on the market is "glue porridge", which will add a variety of "thickeners", such as xanthan gum, and the food additive market does have a situation where the thickener used in boiling porridge is sold. And this thickener is not allowed to be added to the porridge!
So do we really add thickener to the porridge we drink in the breakfast shop? Is such an act legal? Is it really harmful to our bodies? After breakfast, can you not drink porridge? Please read on.
What is xanthan gum?
Xanthan gum is a common thickener in the "food additive", in the final analysis, it is a polysaccharide substance produced by bacterial fermentation, because it has a good "thickening", so it has been widely used in the field of food processing.
Xanthan gum added to food can play a good role in foaming, emulsification and stabilization.
Is xanthan gum that scary?
Xanthan gum is a legal food additive, for additives, there must be a corresponding "food additive category" and "safe dosage".
China's "National Standard for Food Safety" Gb 2760-2014 clearly stipulates that the use of xanthan gum is allowed to be added to "raw noodle products" and "raw and dried noodle products", but it is not allowed to be added to "rice and its products".
The porridge sold by porridge shops and restaurants is completely "ready-made and sold", and there is a difference between the types of xanthan gum used in the national standard, and whether the porridge belongs to "rice and its products" has become a very controversial issue. We will not discuss this controversy, but only say whether it is harmful to the human body.
In fact, the safety of xanthan gum is relatively high, and there is no "safe intake" limit in the addable food category, let alone exceeding the standard. Xanthan gum is not digested and absorbed after entering the body, and it is added in smaller doses to food. Therefore, from the news, the "long-term intake of porridge containing xanthan gum is easy to increase the burden of liver (kidney) organs and affect health" is not reliable.
In addition, there are misunderstandings in the market that xanthan gum is toxic when added to porridge: xanthan gum is an additive that can be added to infant formula, not to mention that it can be added to a large number of food categories, and there is no dosage limit. Is it toxic when added to porridge? The theory that all kinds of xanthan gum is toxic and carcinogenic to the porridge is purely a rumor, and its safety is very high, please treat it fairly.
In addition, some news reports and videos also mention that many merchants will add starch dextrin, corn starch, guar gum, modified starch and other substances in the process of boiling porridge; in fact, the fundamental purpose of joining is to "reduce the time spent boiling porridge" and "get a better taste (thickening)", please do not panic at all, their safety is very reliable, will not damage your health; at the same time, there is no loss in the nutritional level, you can rest assured.
What if I drink "glue porridge"?
With this, the following knowledge must be kept in mind:
First of all, "food additives" and "illegal additives" are two completely different concepts, just like the difference between "xanthan gum" and "clenbuterol" that everyone has heard of. Food additives are a substance that plays a positive role in food processing and production, and can improve food quality and antiseptic flavor in food production; and illegal additives will cause greater harm after entering the human body, such as "Sudan red carcinogenic", please distinguish between them and not be confused.
Secondly, the limits of the use of food additives are "addable food categories" and "safe additions", which should be strictly implemented in accordance with the national standard.
Finally, for such news as "glue porridge", please look at it rationally, some news will definitely become a "breaking point" once it comes out, but not all the harms claimed in the news are "facts", and some are just "alarmist".
Want to boil your own porridge and want to thicken it? The method is here
If you are still worried that "glue porridge" will bring you a threat, it is recommended to boil porridge yourself.
It is not recommended to add alkali, because this will cause the loss of nutrients such as B vitamins. It is recommended to choose a pressure cooker to simmer, add a small amount of glutinous rice flour, and appropriately extend the boiling time of porridge. This restores the delicious taste while retaining the nutrients.