"A drop of fragrance" leads to worries about food additives

Jingchu.com news (truking.com) the picture is: Shanghai food additives professional exhibition, in which there is "one drop of fragrance" (picture / IC) article / reporter Yang Jing Kerui only needs one drop, and clear water can also become soup Recently, the "one drop of fragrance" of food additives has attracted wide attention of domestic media, which even brings some people's worries about food additives We have received many calls from readers, hoping to understand the use of additives in the catering industry There are a variety of food additives on the market, and finally they go to the restaurants of all sizes on the street, and enter the stomach of customers with delicious food What is the current situation and scope of additives used in catering industry? Is it a "normal addition" or a "monster"? In recent days, our reporter visited Wuhan's food additive stores, restaurants, experts in the food industry and catering practitioners, trying to dispel the doubts and get a glimpse of the industry's "inside story" The market secretly visited that there are "matching" from steamed bread to prawns Recently, the reporter came to Minquan Road, Hankou, a food seasoning street There are dozens of food seasoning businesses here Since "a drop of fragrance" suddenly came into public view, the business owners have increased their vigilance to the buyers "Why do you all ask for a drop of incense?" In the face of the reporter's inquiry, the business owners were surprised Some of them shook their heads like a rattle and said, "no, no, No." however, after several twists and turns, the reporter bought a "drop of incense" in a shop, It is packed in a white plastic bottle similar to paint and gasoline One bottle is generally around 40 yuan The ingredients say: Meat essential oil, natural spice essential oil, imported spices, etc it is mainly used in "hotpot, cooking, steamed bun, dumpling stuffing, meat products" The boss of the business firm said: "this" one drop of fragrance "hotel and restaurant are all in use, absolutely non-toxic and harmless They are all by themselves Often " However, it is puzzling that business owners refused to issue invoices for journalists Reporters bought a smell, "fragrance" is very pungent, smoked reporters almost to vomit out, soon the skin appeared itchy symptoms Reporters immediately left, did not walk a few steps, a middle-aged man quietly invited reporters into a small shop, said "in addition to a drop of fragrance, I have a lot of flavor enhancers." reporters in the shop a piece of the product manual written "Wuhan chefs distribution center" to see that the manufacturer divided the food into seven categories, each category has the corresponding food additives     For example, "hot pot" includes flavoring element, big bone chicken paste, flavoring agent, meiguo pork king and other additives, "brine" includes duck bone essence paste, "barbecue" includes meat king, tender meat crystal powder, steamed bun, dumpling, wonton, "stuffing" food, and rice noodles are concentrated fresh powder, "dry pot" includes dry pot ointment, meat fragrant treasure, etc The popular "fried prawns" have magical ingredients "These things are used from star hotels to ordinary restaurants," the boss said "Our salesmen have connections in these places." "And these things are absolutely non-toxic and harmless, which is to make the meat fresher and taste better." Reporter sees, these additive, or liquid, or powder, the price is in tens of yuan to hundreds of yuan, usage material also has corresponding regulation For example, when making stewed meat like black duck and duck neck, if the raw materials are 30 jin soup and 50-60 Jin duck, 25 grams of flavoring agent, 18 grams of meat Baohuang, 28 grams of bone chicken paste and 20 grams of super fresh should be put in correspondingly When making 10 jin of barbecue products, you should use 8 g of flavoring agent, 6 g of Baohuang meat, 10 g of super fresh meat, 8 g of crispy phosphorus meat, etc "Which dish needs no additives now." The boss showed a triumphant expression as he introduced The hotel reveals that the profit drives the use of small restaurants, which are used less, sold and bought by others In order to better understand the whereabouts of food additives, the reporter secretly interviewed a chef and several small restaurant owners Master Xu has been a chef for 14 years He has worked in four-star hotels and ordinary restaurants At present, he is a chef in a restaurant in Wuchang He told reporters that there are more than 200 kinds of dishes in the restaurant at present, with more than 50 kinds of main dishes and 4-5 kinds of food additives in use "This is still rare, and there are more than 10 kinds commonly used in hotels." According to the chef, most of the dishes that consumers usually eat are filled with food additives For example, the early "salted beef", in order to make the meat more tender and beautiful, will use sodium nitrite In addition, there are bullfrog, now used "grade maltol", is also a kind of flavor food additives; and "dry pot dishes", the corresponding additive is "dry pot oil", "slice skin duck" corresponding additive is "maltose and powder", "beef series dishes" corresponding additive is "beef flavor" The same kind of chicken flavor, pork flavor, etc., as for the most common steamed buns, will be used "baking powder" The chef said that the main purpose of these food additives is to make dishes more delicious, tender and tender, and softer and softer, which is to shorten the time of cooking and save the cost of cooking For example, in terms of cooking time, if the most common steamed bun does not use "fermented powder", it will take more than one hour to make it in summer, but only 20 minutes after using "fermented powder" In winter, it takes 3-4 hours to do well without baking powder, while it takes only 1 hour to use "baking powder" "Saving production time is making money." In terms of "saving the cost of cooking", the chef has revealed that if a chicken bowl is to be cooked without chicken flavor, the chicken, radish and kelp should be used for seasoning, and there are five or six kinds of varieties that are expensive Once a small ladle of chicken flavor is added, "a bowl of fresh water will immediately become a good chicken soup, and the cost will drop significantly." the chef told reporters that these food additives would be minimal if they were a compliant product, but should avoid eating too many food additives from a healthy point of view He also reminded that if diners come to restaurants, they can try to eat green vegetables, "because vegetables generally do not use food additives." Contrary to the restaurant's preference for food additives, the reporter saw in the kitchen of several small restaurants on Cuiliu street in Wuchang that most of the condiments in the small restaurants are "homely" - oil, salt, soy sauce and vinegar A small boss said, "those food additives are often tens of yuan, hundreds of yuan, where can we afford them." In fact, the issue of food additives has been one of the focus topics in the field of food safety The reporter interviewed pan Siyi, a famous food safety expert in our province and Dean of the school of food science and technology of Huazhong Agricultural University We eat oil with antioxidants, vinegar with preservatives It can be said that as long as we eat at the table, you can't do without food additives As a long-term expert in food processing, Professor Pan Siyi "knows the right and wrong of food additives at will" Pan said that food additives can improve the quality and nutritional value of food, improve the sensory properties of food, prevent food corruption, and extend the shelf life of food According to the introduction, at present, there are more than 20 categories and 1600 kinds of food additives "legally incorporated" in China's food additive catalogue, such as sweeteners, colorants, thickeners, preservatives, etc Professor Pan told reporters that reasonable use of additives is beneficial to human health and food As long as food additives are added according to national standards, consumers can eat them at ease There is no need to "talk about additive color change" However, pan Siyi said that in recent years, with clenbuterol, pendants, Sudan red and so on, until now being questioned "a drop of fragrance", the food safety problems caused by countless food additives have caused public concern How to let people get rid of the "additive" haze? In addition to relying on businesses to abide by business ethics, improving laws and regulations and relevant standards, strengthening inspection and daily supervision are the fundamental solutions The threshold of food safety needs to be raised The reporter understands that the provisions on supervision and management of food additive production, which has been implemented since June 1 of this year, have made clear provisions on the production, sales and supervision of food additives But many people are still uneasy about the safety of food additives In this regard, some senior food safety experts in our province think that in the final analysis, it is because of the low threshold of food safety in China It is understood that some developed countries abroad are very strict in the control of food additives The improvement of their standards, strict inspection, full risk assessment and comprehensive supervision are worth learning "The domestic food safety standard threshold is still low, the inspection technology is backward, and the supervision is often post investigation." An expert told reporters To this end, Professor Pan Siyi reminded consumers: due to the frequent illegal use of additives, consumers should avoid eating the same kind of food for a long time.