Is the more additives in food, the less safe it is?

Someone asked me. ： I see a strange phenomenon in the ingredient list of many foods .

There are threeorfour thickeners , There are also twoorthree kinds of emulsifiers , There are also twoorthree pigments ...... Why add so many ？

Are there more varieties , The larger the total amount of additives , The less secure it is ？

I said, , not always .

occasionally , After more varieties , The total amount may also be more .

for instance , I ate some sweets when I was a child , One layer at a time , There are different colors , And the color is very thick , After eating, the tongue is dyed in color .

As one can imagine , Calculated by unit food , The amount of pigment added to this kind of products is relatively large . however , Because there are many kinds of pigments , None of them exceeds the standard ......

Sometimes , Need to use different pigments to adjust the color , Just like when we paint, we need to use a variety of pigments to match .

Edible synthetic pigments have blue 、 yellow 、 Red three categories , But no green （ Unless you add sodium copper chlorophyllin directly ）、 Purple, etc . Blue and yellow make green , Blue plus red can bring up purple . So some colors of food , At least two pigments must be added to make the corresponding color .

Sometimes , The opposite is true .

for instance , Thickeners and gel , There are also quality improvers .

The reason for R & D 「 formulation 」 Additives for , Mainly to achieve three goals ： Improve the effect , Reduce dosage , cost reduction .

Food developers found , Some ingredients are in the right proportion , Can play 「 One plus one is more than two 」 The effect of .

for instance , Researchers found that , Locust bean gum and carrageenan are two kinds of gum 「 Good match 」, When the proportion is appropriate , It can form soft jelly , It can also help ice cream have a delicate and smooth taste , And the dosage is just each 0.1%~0.2% nothing more . If you only use a certain kind of glue , The effect is not so good , The dosage is more .

Sometimes , The compound additive can integrate various functions , Make it more convenient for people who make food .

for instance , The earliest tender meat powder was only starch and protease , It can cut part of the long chain of protein , So as to make the meat tender ; Later, phosphate was added （ Or there is edible soda ）, Improve the water retention of meat , It can also play a tenderizing role ; Then add some sodium nitrite by the way , Make the cooked meat pink and cute ; Maybe add some monosodium glutamate and chicken essence , Make the meat taste more delicious ; Finally, add some meat essence , Make the aroma of cooked meat unbeatable ......

therefore , The job of a cook becomes simple . It turned out to be the same , Add sodium nitrite , Add alkali , Add MSG chicken essence , Starch sizing , Now do it all at once , And the meat becomes more tender , Make colors that you can't make at home 、 Flavor and taste .

Maybe some friends' eyes have widened ： Why should I add alkali ！ Why add sodium nitrite , Isn't that poisonous ？ How can I allow to add ！

however , Make cooked meat products , To have enough shelf life , Adding sodium nitrite will be very helpful , It can prevent botulinum toxin poisoning . Let the chef add , They don't count , It is easy to add too much ; And the worst is , Because of poor management , There are often chefs who confuse sodium nitrite with salt ,「 misuse 」 Cause poisoning accident ......

（ If you are interested, you can check , More than ten years ago, such tragedies often happened , It's much less now .）

If sodium nitrite is mixed with a compound meat quality improver , It's settled . As long as the chef uses it as required , All kinds of additives will not exceed the standard , There will be no tragedy of nitrite poisoning . So now many cities have banned the direct use of nitrite in restaurants , Its effect can only be obtained by compounding products with food additives .

（ So , For some things , Not too extreme . From a management perspective , With a very small 、 Controllable risk , For example, reasonably used food additives , In exchange for a big safety , For example, avoid botulinum toxin poisoning and sodium nitrite poisoning , It's still a good deal .）

All in all , There are many food additives in the ingredient list , It does not mean that the total amount of additives is larger , Nor is it more unsafe .

Maybe you'll say ： I don't need those additives at all ！ I don't want that tender 、 Water conservation 、 Freshen 、 The effect of hair color ！ I just want to eat a simple meat flavor, can't I ？

however , That really can't make the taste of many dishes in the restaurant ...... Why do you want to go to a restaurant , Why do you want to eat takeout , Isn't it because the color, flavor and shape of the dishes are more attractive than those you make yourself ？ These effects do not come out of thin air , Food additives play an important role in it .

No meat essence , There is spicy pot 、 Spicy Hot Pot 、 The strong aroma of most cooked meat and sausage products, as well as barbecue flavored snacks .

No fruit essence , Most sweets 、 ice cream 、 Ice cream and fruit yogurt will lose their charming flavor .

No sodium nitrite , There is no pink in the supermarket 、 You can safely open cooked meat products for consumption .

No thickener and gel , Ice cream 、 Ice cream and jelly are basically going to disappear from the market ......

Cheap and high quality , Convenient and safe , It should be natural and taste invincible , It's hard to give full consideration . Sometimes I have to admit that , Development of food additives , To a large extent, it caters to the needs of consumers , So that food enterprises can at the lowest cost , Make it look better 、 Better to eat 、 Easier to store and transport 、 Also relatively safe food .

Of course , If you care about food additives , As a consumer , We can completely avoid eating sausage , Don't eat ice cream , No drinks , Don't buy potato chips , Don't buy cookies, cakes, etc . Follow the food proportion recommended by the dietary pagoda , Cook three meals at home , Can maximize access to fresh natural food , Improve the nutrient density of food , At the same time, minimize the intake of various additives .

It's just , This requires sacrificing some attractive flavors , Need a high degree of self-discipline , More time and energy are needed . But eat takeout 、 Go out 、 Chew snacks 、 How convenient it is to drink drinks , In this 996 Era , How expensive the time cost is ......

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