The more types of additives there are in food, the less safe it is?

Someone asked me: I have seen a strange phenomenon in the ingredient lists of many foods.

There are three or four thickeners, two or three emulsifiers, and two or three pigments... Why add so many?

Is it true that the more varieties there are, the greater the total amount of additives, and the less safe it is?

I said, not necessarily.

Sometimes, when there are more varieties, the total amount may also be larger.

For example, some of the candies we ate when we were children were layered with different colors, and the colors were so intense that after eating them, our tongues would be stained with color.

As you can imagine, the amount of pigment added to this type of product is relatively large when calculated per unit of food. However, because many kinds of pigments are added, none of them exceeds the standard......

Sometimes, we need to use different pigments to mix colors, just like we need to use multiple paints when painting.

Edible synthetic pigments are divided into three categories: blue, yellow, and red, but there is no green (unless sodium copper chlorophyll is added directly) or purple. Blue plus yellow can make green, and blue plus red can make purple. Therefore, for some colored foods, at least two pigments must be added to make the corresponding color.

Sometimes, the opposite is true.

For example, thickeners, gelling agents, quality improvers, etc.

The reason for developing "compound" additives is mainly to achieve three goals: improve effect, reduce dosage, and reduce cost.

Food developers have discovered that some ingredients, when used in the right proportions, can have the effect of "one plus one is greater than two."

For example, researchers have found that locust bean gum and carrageenan are a "good match". When the ratio is right, they can form a soft jelly and help ice cream have a smooth and delicate taste. The amount used is only 0.1% to 0.2% of each. If only one type of gum is used, the effect is not so good, and a higher amount is needed.

Sometimes, compound additives can integrate multiple functions into one, making them more convenient for food makers to use.

For example, the earliest tenderizers only contained starch and protease, which can cut off part of the long protein chain to make the meat tender; later, phosphates (or edible alkali) were added to improve the water retention of the meat and also play a tenderizing role; later, some sodium nitrite was added to make the color of the cooked meat pink; some monosodium glutamate and chicken essence may also be added to make the meat taste more delicious; finally, some meat flavoring is added to make the aroma of the cooked meat extremely rich...

Therefore, the chef's job becomes simple. In the past, they added sodium nitrite, alkali, MSG, chicken essence, and starch one by one, but now they can be done at once, and the meat becomes more tender, with a color, flavor, and taste that you can't make at home.

Some of you may be wondering: Why do you need to add alkali? Why do you need to add sodium nitrite? Isn't that toxic? How can you allow it to be added?

However, if you want to make cooked meat products with a sufficient shelf life, adding sodium nitrite is very helpful to prevent botulism poisoning. If you ask the chef to add it, they don't know how to count and it's easy to add too much; and the worst thing is that due to poor management, chefs often confuse sodium nitrite with salt and "misuse" it, causing poisoning accidents...

(If you are interested, you can check it out. This kind of tragedy happened frequently more than a decade ago, but it is much less common now.)

If sodium nitrite is added to a compound meat quality improver, the problem will be solved. As long as the chef uses it according to the requirements, various additives will not exceed the standard, and the tragedy of nitrite poisoning will not occur. Therefore, many cities have now banned restaurants from directly using nitrite, and its effect can only be achieved through products with compound food additives.

(So, for some things, we should not be too extreme. From a management perspective, it is still worthwhile to use a small, controllable risk, such as the reasonable use of food additives, in exchange for a greater safety, such as avoiding botulism poisoning and sodium nitrite poisoning.)

In short, seeing a lot of food additives in the ingredient list does not mean that the total amount of additives is larger, nor does it mean that it is more unsafe.

Maybe you will say: I don’t need those additives at all! I don’t want the effects of tenderization, moisture retention, freshness enhancement, and color development! I just want to eat the simple taste of meat, right?

However, it is indeed impossible to make the taste of many dishes in restaurants... Why do you want to go to restaurants or takeout? Isn't it because the color, aroma, taste and shape of the dishes there are more attractive than those you make yourself? These effects are not created out of thin air, and food additives have played an indispensable role in them.

Without meat flavoring, there is the strong aroma of spicy hotpot, malatang, most cooked meat and sausage products, and barbecue-flavored snacks.

Without fruit flavoring, most candies, ice creams, popsicles and fruit yogurts would lose their charming flavor.

Without sodium nitrite, there would be no pink cooked meat products in supermarkets that are safe to open and eat.

Without thickeners and gelling agents, products such as popsicles, ice creams and jellies would basically disappear from the market...

It is difficult to have both cheapness and quality, convenience and safety, naturalness and taste. Sometimes we have to admit that the development of food additives caters to the needs of consumers to a large extent, allowing food companies to make better-looking, tastier, easier to store and transport, and relatively safer food at the lowest cost.

Of course, if we are very concerned about food additives, as consumers, we can completely not eat sausages, ice cream, drinks, potato chips, biscuits and cakes, etc. According to the food proportions recommended by the dietary pyramid, cooking three meals at home can maximize the acquisition of fresh and natural food, increase the nutrient density of food, and minimize the intake of various additives.

However, this requires sacrificing some tempting tastes, requiring a high degree of self-discipline, and requiring more time and energy. But how convenient it is to eat takeout, eat in restaurants, chew snacks, and drink beverages. In this 996 era, the time cost is so high...

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