Food additives authority science: buy children's food Don't worry too much about additives

Every child is a parent's baby
.
Seeing statements such as "food additives affect children's intellectual development, leading to obesity and precocious puberty" and "don't let pigment accumulate into children's childhood", parents will inevitably have various worries
about children's food safety.
In fact, the above statements contain a lot of misleading and even rumored elements
.

On December 6, Professor Wang Bei, deputy dean and doctoral supervisor of the School of Food and Health of Beijing Technology and Business University, said in an interview with a reporter from Science and Technology Daily that food additives have long been accompanied by human beings, are the daily composition of the public diet, and are also an indispensable foundation of the modern food industry, and the formulation and implementation of China's food additive standards are very strict, parents do not need to worry too much about additives when purchasing
children's food.
Compared with food additives, parents should pay more attention to the nutritional content of children's food, and do not "stare at sesame seeds and lose watermelon"
.

There are few types of additives allowed in infant food in China

"There are more than 10,000 kinds of food additives allowed in the world, and there are only more than 2,000 in
China.
A large number of food additives that have been allowed to be used abroad have not been included in the national standards in
China due to the consideration of food safety and the characteristics of China's food culture.
Therefore, in general, China's food additive use standards are quite strict, especially infant food
.
Wang Bei said
.

Wang Bei introduced that the "National Standard for Food Safety, Standard for the Use of Food Additives" (GB 2760, hereinafter referred to as the "Standard"), the food additives allowed to be used in infant food in China are mainly emulsifiers, thickeners, acidity regulators, and leavening agents, which are more than 20 kinds of 4 categories
.
In addition, the "Standard" strictly stipulates
the type, function and maximum amount of food allowed to be added to each food additive allowed in infant food.
For example, infant formula is divided into infant formula, larger infant and toddler formula, and infant formula for special medical purposes
.
Although these three types of food belong to infant formula, the types of food additives between the three categories cannot be universal.

For example, guar gum, a common food thickener, can only be used in larger infant and toddler formulas, but not in infant
formulas.
In addition, the "Standards" also strictly stipulate that any food spices shall not be added to infant formula food covering 0-6 months, and the standards are very strict
.

"Therefore, the use of food additives according to national standards is legal and safe, and consumers do not have to worry
excessively.
" Wang Bei said
.

Parents should pay more attention to the nutritional content of food

Wang Bei pointed out that children are in an important stage of physical development, and various physical functions are still not perfect, so the state is very cautious
in the selection of the list of food additives allowed in infant food and the maximum amount of food additives when formulating food additive standards.
In addition, the amount of food additives added to food is very small, so its impact on children's growth and development can be basically ignored
.

"However, more noteworthy than food additives is the food nutrition content itself
.
When buying snacks for their children, parents should buy more foods with high nutritional value, such as milk, yogurt, etc.
, so that children can consume more protein, calcium, lutein and other nutrients
.
As for some highly processed foods with high sugar, high fat and high salt, they should be eaten
less.
Compared to food additives, the nutrients ingested actually have a much
greater impact on your child's body.
Wang Bei analyzed that when buying food for children, parents should pay more attention to choosing products
based on the nutritional needs of children at different stages of growth and development.

"Additives cause precocious puberty in children" is a rumor

Wang Bei bluntly said that "food additives cause precocious puberty in children" without any scientific basis
.

Wang Bei analyzed that the chemical components that cause precocious puberty must be related to hormones, but there are no components related to hormone function or similar in structure in food additives, so legal food additives cannot cause precocious puberty
.

"This rumor may be related
to phthalates (bisphenol A).
In the early years, studies have found that phthalates in infant food containers such as plastic feeding bottles can exert estrogen-like effects
in the human body.
However, since 2011, China has banned the production of baby food containers
containing this chemical.
So, this question has become history
.
”

Wang Bei believes that such claims are very similar to rumors such as "soy milk causes precocious puberty", which may be the result of
false rumors.
She advises consumers to trust foods made through legitimate food manufacturers that use safe amounts of additives and don't have to worry
too much about either adults or children.