New food additive use standard will be implemented

Hydrogen peroxide secondary "posts": "bleaching" still avoid abuse

The new national "food additive use standards" was implemented on May 24, and food-grade hydrogen peroxide was re-permitted as a food processing aid; experts worry that small and micro enterprises and black workshops abuse industrial hydrogen peroxide

Hydrogen peroxide has been banned for food processing additives

Published data show that in the 2007 national standard, hydrogen peroxide can be used as a processing aid. In the 2011 edition, hydrogen peroxide was removed from the list. In the new 2014 version of the national standard, hydrogen peroxide has regained the "legal status."

The repeated adjustment of the national standard has caused some consumers to wonder whether the use of hydrogen peroxide in food processing is harmful. Why did you cancel the qualification of its food processing additives? What is the reason for resuming now?

In response, experts responded that many people have misunderstood this rule.

Dr. Zhong Kai, deputy director of Risk Communication Department of the National Food Safety Risk Assessment Center and Dr. Zhong Wei of Food Safety, said in an interview with the Beijing News reporter that hydrogen peroxide has been used as a disinfectant for food. The so-called deletion and restoration only differ in category identification.

In 2011, the “Standard for the Use of Food Additives (GB2760-2011)” banned hydrogen peroxide as a food additive and food processing aid for food processing.

However, at the same time, according to the reply issued by the Ministry of Health in 2011 on the “Standard for the Use of Food Additives”, hydrogen peroxide (“hydrogen peroxide”) is no longer used as a processing aid for food, but it can be used as a disinfectant for foods. And its raw materials continue to be produced, operated and used.

This means that the use of hydrogen peroxide has never been banned in food processing.

Cao Yanping, executive vice president of the Beijing Food Science Institute and professor at the Food Science College of Beijing Technology and Business University, told the Beijing News reporter that in the detergent regulations issued by the Ministry of Agriculture, hydrogen peroxide has been used for food processing, such as aseptic packaging for foods. , for disinfection, sterilization, etc., "the world is using." Hydrogen peroxide can kill microorganisms. At the same time, hydrogen peroxide can decompose into oxygen and water because of its unstable chemical properties. It is harmless to the human body and is needed by humans. Therefore, it is widely used in food processing.

Cao Yanping believes that “since some people think that it may be harmful, then it is incorporated into the supervision of food additives. This has the advantage that it can regularly evaluate its harm. If it is not included in the supervision of food additives, it will not There will be such strict supervision."

Food-grade hydrogen peroxide is also widely used abroad

All along, unscrupulous merchants have used hydrogen peroxide as a way to “whiten” foods such as chicken claws and pork belly from time to time, adding “strongly corrosive” and “carcinogenic” arguments. Consumers are very worried about hydrogen peroxide.

Food experts point out that, in fact, food-grade hydrogen peroxide has a broad spectrum, high efficiency, non-toxic, and non-residual properties. As a production processing aid used in the production process of food, fruits and vegetables and beverages, can play a role in disinfection, sterilization, bleaching and so on. In foreign countries, food-grade hydrogen peroxide is also widely used as a food processing aid in the pore-forming agent for cheese, bleached meat products, tea, and nuts, and is used as a modifier for starch, milk, and other proteins. In addition, food-grade hydrogen peroxide is used more for the sterilization of foods.

Zhu Yi, an associate professor of the College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering at China Agricultural University, pointed out to reporters that whether food-grade hydrogen peroxide can be added or not, and repeated disputes may be related to public opinion. In fact, hydrogen peroxide is very unstable, and it is easily decomposed into water and oxygen during food processing. There is very little residue.

Even if there is residue in the food, because it is very unstable, consumers can quickly decompose it into water and oxygen through heating, etc., and will not harm the human body.

Repeated exposure of white trotters, chicken feet using "hydrogen peroxide" news, many consumers are full of "hydrogen peroxide" full of vigilance.

On the forthcoming May 24th, the National Health and Family Planning Commission released a new version of the “Standard for the Use of Food Additives” (GB2760-2014), which will be formally implemented to replace the current 2011 edition. Some of the additives that had been removed from the food additive list in the 2011 edition received “secondary posts” and appeared again in the 2014 new standard. Hydrogen peroxide (commonly known as “hydrogen peroxide”) is one of them.

According to the provisions of the new national standard, food-grade hydrogen peroxide can be used as a processing aid in the processing of various types of foods, and the amount of residues does not need to be limited. Consumers have raised concerns about this. Once hydrogen peroxide is “legalized” as a food additive, or if hydrogen peroxide is used excessively, there are more food safety hazards.

However, food experts told the Beijing News reporter that consumers do not have to panic. As a environmentally friendly green product with no pollution, no residue and easy to use, food grade hydrogen peroxide has been widely used in food processing in the world and will not harm the human body.

Cao Yanping, executive deputy director of the Beijing Food Society and professor at the Food Science College of Beijing Technology and Business University, said that hydrogen peroxide had not been strictly supervised before the food additive was removed. Now that it is returning as a food additive, it is not "relaxing" its control, but "tightening up" the control. However, the most difficult to monitor is still a large number of small and micro food processing companies and black workshops.

Difficult to detect

Industrial grade hydrogen peroxide is difficult to detect and contains heavy metal impurities

Hydrogen peroxide is divided into food grade and industrial grade, and this time it is allowed to use food grade hydrogen peroxide in food processing.

The Beijing News reporter found on the e-commerce platform that the average price of food-grade hydrogen peroxide was more than 3,000 yuan per ton, with a maximum of nearly 4,000 yuan. However, the industrial-grade hydrogen peroxide price is generally much lower. The statistics of the business community’s large list showed that the domestic industrial-grade hydrogen peroxide price rose in April this year, and the average price at the end of the month rose to 924 yuan/ton, but the price after the rise was still far lower than that of food-grade hydrogen peroxide.

Cao Yanping, professor of the School of Food Science and Technology at Beijing Technology and Business University, said, "There is no problem with pure hydrogen peroxide," and there are differences between other food ingredients such as food grade hydrogen peroxide and industrial hydrogen peroxide, which contain different "impurities."

In addition to certain percentages of hydrogen peroxide in food-grade hydrogen peroxide, the country’s requirements for other ingredients are also very stringent to ensure that the use of food processing does not harm the health of consumers. Industrial-grade hydrogen peroxide, on the other hand, may contain chemical compounds that are harmful to humans, such as heavy metals.

Cao Yanping said that the production of food-grade hydrogen peroxide is much less than that of industrial-grade hydrogen peroxide manufacturers, because the production of food-grade hydrogen peroxide requires the qualification of the AQSIQ, and the level of supervision it accepts is much higher.

Another problem that needs to be faced is that “the amount of hydrogen peroxide used in food processing is very small and it is difficult to detect it in food.”

Regulatory difficulties

The abuse of small and micro food companies is the biggest difficulty

Food companies may use industrial-grade hydrogen peroxide as a food-grade hydrogen peroxide solution based on cost saving and convenience of purchase. Is this risk present and how should it be supervised?

Cao Yanping pointed out that if food manufacturers use industrial grade rather than food grade hydrogen peroxide, it is illegal. If you want to judge whether you are using food-grade or industrial-grade hydrogen peroxide, you need to supervise and control the production and sales of hydrogen peroxide.

From the regulatory system, “the state requires all food additives to be purchased to register purchase information. In accordance with regulations, food companies using food-grade hydrogen peroxide must be purchased from enterprises that have food-grade hydrogen peroxide production qualifications, and suppliers must also provide production qualifications. Product test report."

However, despite the regulatory mechanism, there are still regulatory difficulties. In Cao Yanping’s view, the biggest difficulty in supervision lies in small and micro food companies. Small businesses have insufficient knowledge of food additives regulations, and some small businesses knowingly violate regulations but deliberately use them excessively or illegally using banned food additives. With regard to the use of hydrogen peroxide, “a large number of small and micro food processing companies do not even have qualified black workshops, and supervision is very difficult.”

Glossary

Hydrogen peroxide chemical name hydrogen peroxide, is a strong oxidant, commonly known as "hydrogen peroxide" aqueous solution, is a colorless transparent liquid, suitable for medical wound disinfection and environmental disinfection and food disinfection. Under normal circumstances will be broken down into water and oxygen, hydrogen peroxide for food grade and industrial grade. Food grade hydrogen peroxide has a broad spectrum, high efficiency, non-toxicity, and no residue. As a production processing aid used in the production process of food, fruits and vegetables and beverages, can play a role in disinfection, sterilization, bleaching and so on.