Don't be fooled by "zero additions"

Today, "zero addition" has become an important signboard
in the food industry.
Many companies frequently play the banner of "zero addition", such as a brand of juice emphasizing no water, no sugar, no additives, another hawthorn juice labeled "no preservatives, no coloring"
.
Many customers also believe in this set, and zero-added products often sell much faster
.

What is the concept of "zero addition"? Consumers believe that there is no additive
in the food.
However, whether from the perspective of facts or scientific concepts, "zero addition" is not rigorous, does not stand up to scrutiny, and is not a fact
.
Because food in modern society has to go through complex processes such as production, harvesting, transfer, storage and processing, it can enter people's tables and eat into their mouths, and contain more or less additives
.

Some people think that whether it is food or other products, pure natural is the best
.
In fact, the nutrition, safety and deliciousness of food are not only natural
.
One of the main purposes of food production and processing is to make food nutrition fully valuable
.
Whether in China or abroad, the oldest additive in human food is salt, that is, meat is salted to avoid spoilage
.
In some food safety incidents, unscrupulous manufacturers add substances that are not food additives to food, which makes food additives notorious
.

Zero addition is neither scientific, nor is it a gimmick, or even a promotional tactic
to appease consumers.
The Joint Food Regulations Committee of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) defines food additives as non-nutritive substances
that are consciously added to foods in small amounts to improve the appearance, flavor and organizational structure or storage properties of foods.
According to China's food safety law, the definition of food additives is: improving food quality and color, aroma and taste, and synthetic or natural substances
added to food for the needs of preservative, preservation and processing technology.
From the perspective of food production and processing, there is almost no food in the world today that does not contain additives
.

Today, there are 25,000 food additives in the world, and China has approved only 2,000, less than one-tenth
.
There are many types of these food additives, such as preservatives, thickeners, sweeteners, leavening agents, flavoring agents, etc.
, some of which are to ensure food safety.

For example, sausages and bacon use a little nitrite to prevent decay, and its main effect is to inhibit the growth and reproduction
of botulinum.
Botulinum toxin can produce highly toxic botulinum toxin, which is more toxic than arsenic
.
Obviously, it is reasonable to use a little nitrite in meat processing, otherwise there is a risk of harming people
due to botulinum toxin produced by meat rot.

In July 2020, the State Administration for Market Regulation issued the Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Food Labeling (Draft for Comments), which stipulates that food labels must not be labeled, including "for substances not contained or used in food, emphasize that they do not contain or are not used with 'no addition', 'zero addition', 'no containment' or similar words"
.
In 2020, the National Health Commission conducted the second round of solicitation of opinions on the General Principles of Nutrition Labeling of Prepackaged Foods, and the specification of "zero addition" labeling was also mentioned
.
However, at present, the labeling of "zero addition" by food companies is not considered a violation, so many companies label "zero addition"
to cater to consumer psychology.

In some cases, some manufacturers are already fooling consumers, saying that some foods that do not need to use additives are zero additives, such as pickled foods (high salt), honey (high sugar), instant flour cakes (dry), etc
.
These food microorganisms are inherently difficult to enter, and the so-called "no preservatives" is a marketing tool
.

What consumers really need to care about is whether food additives are recognized
by food and health authorities.
To determine whether a food is safe, first look at the type and dosage of food ingredients and food additives, and do not be easily fooled
by "zero addition".