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 cannot be drunk!
The result of the secret investigation is 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 that specializes in selling thickeners used in boiling porridge. And this thickener is not allowed to be added to the porridge!
Is xanthan gum that scary?
Xanthan gum is a legal food additive, in the end 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.
For additives, there will be corresponding "food additive categories" and "safe dosages".
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 rumors that xanthan gum is toxic to porridge, and there is a misunderstanding in this view: xanthan gum is an additive that can be added to infant formula milk powder, and it can be added to a large number of food categories, and there is no limit on the amount of use. 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; its fundamental purpose is to "reduce the time spent boiling porridge" and "get a better taste (thickening)", do not panic, their safety is very reliable, will not damage your health; at the same time, there is no loss of nutrition.
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. Food additives are a substance that plays an active role in food processing and production, and can play a role in improving food quality and preservatives and flavoring in food production; and illegal additives will cause greater harm after entering the human body, such as "Sudan red carcinogenicity".
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.
(Popular Science China <id: science_china> Yanzhao Metropolis Daily official WeChat <id: yzdsbnews>)