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    Home > Food News > Nutrition News > Mineral oil is detected in milk powder, can I still drink milk powder for my baby?

    Mineral oil is detected in milk powder, can I still drink milk powder for my baby?

    • Last Update: 2021-06-28
    • Source: Internet
    • Author: User
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    Original Ruan Guangfeng 
     
    Recently, a test report issued by the German "Food Watch" organization showed that aromatic hydrocarbon mineral oil was detected in 3 out of 4 milk powder purchased from Germany; 5 out of 12 milk powder products purchased from France and the Netherlands were detected Aromatic mineral oil
    .
    The content of aromatic hydrocarbon mineral oil in these affected milk powders is between 0.
    5 mg and 3 mg per kilogram
    .
    Many mothers are very worried after seeing this, after all, milk powder is the baby's ration
    .
    Why is there mineral oil in milk powder? What kind of harm does it have to the baby? Is there any mineral oil in the milk powder I bought? Can I give my baby milk powder at ease?

     
    What is mineral oil?
    Mineral oil (Mineral Oil Hydrocarbons, MOH) is a product of petroleum fractionation.
    What we usually call mineral oil is not actually a substance, but a huge family
    .

    Mineral oil can be divided into mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons (MOSH) and mineral oil aromatic hydrocarbons (MOAH)
    .
    According to the viscosity, it can be divided into three types: low viscosity, medium viscosity and high viscosity.
    The general rule is that the more carbon atoms, the greater the molecular weight, the greater the viscosity, and the less toxicity
    .

    Mineral oil has industrial uses, such as gasoline and diesel, and it is also used in food.
    The most common food in food is paraffin wax
    .
    In addition, many cosmetics in life have mineral oils, such as various moisturizing oils, cleansing oils, and skin care products.
    In fact, they all have mineral oils.
    Mineral oils also have many applications in medicines
    .

     
     
    Why is there mineral oil in milk powder?
    In the food industry, mineral oil can be used.
    On the one hand, it is used as a food additive, and on the other hand, it is also widely used in packaging materials
    .
     
    • The United Nations Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) has conducted a detailed safety evaluation of food-grade mineral oils and determined that certain mineral oils can be used in food
    .
    • The EU allows the use of cocoa, chocolate products and other confectionery products, including fresh breath candy and chewing gum
    .
    • The United States also allows mineral oil to be used in foods such as candies, baked goods, and rice
    .
    • China allows mineral oil to be used as a processing aid.
    It is often used as a defoamer, mold release agent, anti-sticking agent, lubricant, etc.
    in the processing of fermented food, candy, potato chips and soy products
    .
    Such as candy, egg coating agent
    .

    Therefore, the expert report of the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) pointed out that mineral oil exists in varying degrees in almost all foods
    .
    The European Food Safety Agency has conducted a survey of foods on the market and found that almost all foods contain more or less mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons.
    The foods with the highest average content are candy (excluding chocolate), vegetable oil, and fish products (canned fish).
    ), oilseeds, animal fats, fish, nuts and so on
    .

    The EU Food Safety Agency survey pointed out that the mineral oil in food mainly comes from food packaging, food additives, processing aids and lubricants
    .
    Food packaging may be the biggest source!
    The mineral oil in milk powder is most likely to enter the food raw materials and food through the printing ink through the packaging materials
    .
    Looking at our current milk powder, we use all kinds of packaging paper and packaging cans, and the packaging cans will be printed with beautiful patterns and text with ink.
    Therefore, the mineral oil in these inks will inevitably enter the food
    .

    Therefore, the detection of mineral oil in milk powder is not a novel discovery.
    This is a normal phenomenon.
    All milk powder contains mineral oil
    .
     
     
    How high are the health risks of mineral oil?
    For Bao Mom and Dad, the most concern is whether it is safety, after all, this is the baby's ration
    .
    In fact, from the current point of view, you don't need to worry too much
    .

    First of all, although mineral oil will inevitably enter our food, the content of mineral oil detected in food is generally not high, and the possible risk is still very low
    .
    Secondly, mineral oil can be used as a food additive
    .
    For example, white oil (paraffin) is also a member of the mineral oil family, and many countries in the world, such as the United States, Europe and China, allow it to be used as a food additive
    .
    Like other permitted food additives, as long as they meet national standards and use mineral oil reasonably, they are safe
    .
    Mineral oil is a fat-soluble substance that can accumulate in the fat tissues of the human body, so people are worried about whether it will endanger their health
    .
    However, the composition of mineral oil is complex, and different types of mineral oil toxins are different, and scientists have never stopped assessing its risks
    .
      
    • In 2012, the International Food Additives Committee JECFA divided mineral oil into high-viscosity mineral oil and low-viscosity mineral oil, and proposed that the safe daily intake (ADI) per person for high-viscosity mineral oil is 0-20 mg/kg•bw
    .
     
    • The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) believes that toxicity is related to the viscosity of mineral oil, and set the appropriate intake ADI for high-viscosity mineral oil and medium-viscosity mineral oil at 12 mg/kg•bw
    .
    However, the composition of mineral oil is too complex, and different types of mineral oil vary greatly
    .
    However, the actual mineral oil may be a mixture of different structures, and it is unreasonable to simply apply this indicator
    .

    The EFSA expert assessment report pointed out that the actual intake of mineral oil is in the range of 0.
    03 to 0.
    3 mg/kg body weight, and the intake of children is higher
    .
    For infants who are exclusively breastfed, the intake is probably in the range of 0.
    3 to 0.
    5 mg/kg of body weight
    .
    Generally speaking, about 15%-35% of these mineral oils are "aromatic mineral oils"
    .
    Judging from this data, the daily intake of aromatic mineral oil by European infants is approximately in the range of 0.
    05 to 0.
    18 mg/kg of body weight
    .
    The milk powder with the highest content of aromatic mineral oil in the measurement is 3 mg/kg.
    According to this amount, it can be concluded that the mineral oil ingested through milk powder is not more than the intake of breast milk infants, so it can be considered This mineral oil will not harm your baby's health
    .
     

     
    How to treat mineral oil?
    The mineral oil in milk powder is not "illegal added", because adding it does not benefit the manufacturer
    .
    It is actually brought during the processing of milk powder.
    It may come from "processing aids" or from packaging materials
    .
    However, based on current scientific data, the mineral oil that may be present in food poses little health risk, so you still don't need to worry too much
    .

     
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