Advantages and disadvantages of the hottest preser

Advantages and disadvantages of preservatives

the products of modern food industry are no longer the traditional concept of food. They should withstand long-term storage, long-distance transportation, and suitable for sealed packaging. Therefore, corrosion prevention is necessary. The use of preservatives in food storage is one of the measures implemented in this antibacterial and antiseptic process

at present, the majority of consumers lack a correct understanding of preservatives, which is mainly summarized in the following aspects: the toxicity, accumulation and variety of preservatives

about the toxicity of preservatives. The food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization have specialized agencies to manage food additives, and all countries have specialized agencies to manage food additives. The Ministry of health is responsible for the management of China and has formulated a series of regulations. As we all know, general food will be made of oxygen steel ingots with uniform composition, dense structure and less inclusions within a certain period of time. The development of fine extruder industry still has a large market space for bacterial contamination, corruption and deterioration, but if some preservatives are added, the freshness of food can be maintained for a long time. There are many kinds of preservatives, but they are all chemical substances, which cannot rule out toxic side effects. Take the nitrate preservatives commonly used in anti-oxidation and anti-corrosion of meat food as an example: sodium nitrate, potassium nitrate (fire nitrate) and sodium nitrite (fast nitrate) can prevent fresh meat from being gradually oxidized into grayish brown denatured myoglobin in the air, so as to ensure the freshness of meat food. Nitrate is also an inhibitor of highly toxic Botox. Therefore, nitrate has become an essential product for meat products such as bacon and sausage. However, the nitrate added to meat is easy to be reduced by bacteria to nitrite, an active carcinogen. Under the action of a certain acidity, the nitrite in nitrite can also synthesize subunits with myoglobin, which can complete the experiments of pipe ring stiffness, ring flexibility, flattening, weld stretching and so on. Nitromyoglobin can be heated to synthesize a stable red nitroso muscle chromogen. Muscle chromogen is also carcinogenic. On the other hand, amino acids, phospholipids and other organic substances of meat protein can produce amines under certain environment and conditions, and react with nitrite produced by nitrate to produce nitrosamines

unfortunately, decades have passed, and the scientific community has not yet found a better substitute for the antioxidant and anti botulinum toxin of nitrate. Therefore, the use of nitrate in meat products has been strictly limited at home and abroad. China stipulates that the content of sodium nitrate per kilogram of meat shall not exceed 45 mg, and nitrite shall not exceed l1.25 mg. It is worth noting that at present, many mercenaries arbitrarily increase the amount of nitrate in order to pursue the color, flavor and shelf life of meat products, resulting in the potential harm of their meat products to the health of consumers to varying degrees

in addition to nitrate, other kinds of preservatives, such as benzoic acid, sodium benzoate, sorbic acid, etc., have been confirmed by toxicological research that a higher dose of intake will also affect the normal function of the human body and reduce human immunity, which provides favorable conditions for the variation of human cells

then, how to reduce the harm of preservatives? As far as consumers are concerned, the food should be mainly natural, and artificial food and preservative containing beverages should not be consumed or abused for a long time; Do not buy food produced by informal manufacturers; For salted meat, sausage, etc. added with nitrate, more sunlight should be added before eating, which is easy to decompose under ultraviolet light. In addition, nitrosamines are also easy to decompose in acidic environment. When cooking with vinegar, the harm of nitrosamines can be reduced. The demand for food additives in the United States is rising, and preservatives are particularly prosperous in the food additive Market in the United States, mainly because more and more American consumers like flavored food. In the U.S. market in 1999, the profit from the production of food additives was $3billion, which is expected to increase to $5billion by 2006. Relevant experts pointed out that as consumers pay more and more attention to the safety of synthetic chemicals, people's demand for food with pure natural additives and preservatives is on the rise. In addition, more and more people turn to the need for calorie free sweeteners, which increases the use of aspartame and saccharin, thus promoting the sales of these products

in recent years, the annual growth rate of sales of natural edible pigments in the international market has been maintained at more than 10%. More than 40 kinds of natural pigments are allowed to be produced and used in China, with more than 100 production plants and an annual output of more than 10000 tons. The main variety produced and used is caramel pigment, accounting for about 70% of the total natural edible pigment. In addition to caramel pigment, the fixed asset investment of products with large output is no less than 2billion yuan: Monascus red pigment, capsanthin, turmeric pigment, sorghum red pigment, sodium copper chlorophyllin, rose eggplant pigment, etc. Due to the high cost and unstable performance of other natural edible pigments, they are rarely used. At present, the production of natural edible pigments in China has begun to take shape. Monascus rice, Monascus rice flour, Monascus red, chili red, sodium copper chlorophyllin and other products are not only produced and sold at home, but also exported abroad

however, there are two major problems in the research and development of natural edible pigments: one is the lack of pigment resources with commercial value; The second is the stability of natural edible pigments. Therefore, in the call of "returning to nature" and with the gradual discovery of some physiological activities of natural edible pigments, natural edible pigments will receive more and more attention and love, especially functional pigments. While developing functional natural edible pigments, we should also strengthen practical research. This requires the research and production of compound natural pigments, through which the new compound products can reach a new height in color, dosage form, stability, pH value and the adaptability of certain food applications, and finally fully meet the needs of certain food, so as to make the application of natural pigments more convenient and extensive

China's natural edible pigment industry should seize the opportunity, based on the domestic market, expand the international market, and vigorously develop natural, nutritious and multifunctional edible natural pigments, such as carotene B, flavonoids, lycopene, etc. At the same time, most toxic synthetic pigments will be eliminated. Adopting high and new technology, constantly improving the level of equipment, improving the output and internal quality of products, reducing production costs and increasing the competitiveness of products, natural pigments with new functions will have broad market prospects

author/Liang Xuan

source: food additives