Talking about food safety problems caused by chemical food additives and countermeasures

Abstract: With the continuous improvement of living standards and the continuous improvement of people's pursuit of quality of life, more and more consumers are paying more attention to food safety issues
.
This article starts with typical food safety cases caused by the current use of chemical food additives , deeply analyzes the current food safety problems, and proposes some ideas and countermeasures to solve the problems
.

Keywords: chemistry; food additives; food safety issues; countermeasures and suggestions.

With the continuous improvement of people’s living standards, people’s pursuit of material life is no longer the simple need to "eat well" in the past but to "eat well.
" "This change in the pursuit of higher life, food safety issues have increasingly become a major social and people’s livelihood issue that consumers are concerned about.
Food safety caused by the use of food additives, especially chemical food additives, has become a hot spot of people’s attention and has become an urgent solution.
Important question
.

1 The scientific connotation of food additives The
"Food Sanitation Law of the People's Republic of China" clearly stipulates that food additives are artificial or natural substances added to food for the purpose of improving the color, aroma, and taste of food, as well as for the needs of anti-corrosion and processing technology
.
It can be seen from the definition that food additives can be divided into natural substances and synthetic substances from the use of raw materials
.
There are 23 categories of food additives in China, with more than 2,400 varieties.
Except for natural additives, artificial additives are essentially chemically synthesized substances [1], which play an important role in food processing
.
The use of food additives within a reasonable range has three effects
.
①Food additives can extend the shelf life of food and avoid unnecessary waste, such as preservatives, antioxidants, etc.
; ②Food additives can effectively improve the color, fragrance, and other qualities of food, and increase people's desire to buy food, such as bleaching agent and coloring.
agents, color protection agents, flavor enhancers, sweeteners, spices
.
③Food additives can also enhance the nutritional content of food and maximize the demand of food for human survival, such as defoamers, acidity regulators, thickeners, leavening agents, etc.

.
The use of food additives has pros and cons.
You cannot blindly think that as long as there are food additives are harmful foods, it is necessary to rectify the names of food additives, and regulate the use of food additives within a reasonable and legal scope, so as to promote a more prosperous food processing industry in China
.

2 Food safety problems caused by the use
of chemical food additives With the widespread use of chemical food additives, food safety problems caused by them frequently appear, and many consumers have psychological panic about food safety within a certain range
.
Improper or excessive use of food additives, and even the illegal use of some toxic chemical substances, can seriously endanger people's health and cause serious food safety problems
.

2.
1 The labeling of chemical food additives is not clear, and it seriously violates consumers’ right to know.
Consumers’ right to know
about the products they consume is the starting point of consumption.
Misunderstandings and doubts, in order to cater to consumer psychology, ignoring the provisions of national laws and regulations, can not truly and objectively indicate the amount of food additives used, and even deliberately cancel or mark some sensitive consumer information in an inconspicuous position, which is more obvious Food safety fraud, deceived consumers, seriously violated people’s right to know, caused many consumption disputes and food safety issues, and affected the orderly development of food safety management [2]
.

2.
2 Excessive use of chemical food additives seriously affects consumers' consumption.
The expected
use of food additives is closely related to food safety.
The use of food additives in an appropriate amount and within a legal and legal scope will not cause harm to human health
.
In the "National Food Safety Standard Food Additives Use Standards" (GB 2760-2014), the standards for the use of food additives are clearly stipulated.
However, in order to maximize profits, some companies ignore national laws and regulations and do not strictly control the amount of food additives.
Even deliberately over-use in violation of regulations, causing great harm to consumers
.
For example, in order to make the color of smoked meat products attractive to consumers, certain companies often overuse colorants and color-preserving agents, causing serious excess of nitrate and nitrite, among which N-nitroso compounds have carcinogenic effects
.

2.
3 Excessive use of chemical food additives seriously damages the rights and interests of consumers.

"National Food Safety Standards and Food Additives Use Standards" have clear regulations on the prohibited use of each food additive.
However, there are still some illegal businesses that use food beyond the scope.
Additives cause serious food safety risks
.
For example, the over-range use of color food additives, artificial coloring is not allowed in flour foods
.
The once sensational "cornmeal buns" incident is a typical incident of illegal use of artificial colors, and many unscrupulous businesses use fake and shoddy chemical food additives containing harmful substances such as lead and mercury
.
Adding food additives beyond the range is bound to cause serious food safety problems, which not only interferes with the normal economic order, but also seriously damages the rights and interests of consumers
.

2.
4 The illegal use of chemical food additives seriously endangers the physical and mental health of consumers.

In the process of using food additives, the most serious problem is the addition of illegal additives that are expressly prohibited by national laws and regulations
.
At present, driven by economic interests, some food processing companies ignore national laws and regulations and add illegal chemical additives to food
.
A typical case of illegal use of chemical substances as food additives is the Sanlu tainted milk powder incident, which caused huge mental and physical harm to multiple families; in addition, the Sudan Red incident and the "Clenbuterol" incident have caused the entire The extremely bad influence brought about by the food processing industry should arouse great attention from the society and relevant departments
.

3 Countermeasures and suggestions to solve China's food safety problems
Food safety is related to people's physical and mental health
.
With the continuous increase in the use of food additives and the continuous promotion of the scope of use, while food additives bring new pursuits to consumers, the frequency of hidden food safety hazards has also increased.

.
Therefore, the use of food additives must be strictly regulated, and food additives must be treated correctly to protect people's health
.

3.
1 Carry out extensive food safety training to guide consumers’ awareness of consumption.
At
present, many consumers have greater doubts and doubts about the use of food additives.
Targeted science promotion activities [3], popularize and promote the knowledge of food additives, guide consumers to objectively understand food additives, improve consumers' ability to distinguish authentic food additives, and correctly guide consumer awareness, so that food additives can have a broader Market to better serve the food processing industry and consumers
.

3.
2 Strictly abide by food safety standards and improve the level of food testing .

The first barrier to ensure food safety is to strictly control the use of food additives, use and conduct food safety testing in strict accordance with food safety standards
.
Food safety and other relevant departments shall conduct systematic and scientific training for the staff of the testing agency to make them understand the food production process and processing technology in depth, and learn the "Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China" and "National Food Safety Standards for the Use of Food Additives" (GB 2760—2014) and other relevant food standards laws and regulations, accurately grasp food safety standards, and then conduct inspections scientifically, fairly, and efficiently
.
At the same time, we must continue to innovate food safety testing methods and methods, introduce advanced testing equipment, improve the accuracy and credibility of testing, and solve the problem of appropriate and appropriate use of food additives to ensure food safety
.

3.
3 Establish a sound food safety supervision system and use the system to regulate uncivilized behaviors In
order to effectively ensure that the use of food additives meets safety standards, a scientific and complete food additive management and supervision system must be established
.
① Establish a sound food safety traceability system to ensure the supervision of the whole process of food "from farmland to table" to ensure the authenticity and accuracy of the information on the use of food additives
.
②Establish and improve food processingEnterprises apply the food additive reporting system to effectively improve the quality of food additive testing
.
③ establish and improve the food processing business credit file system and implementing the filing of food processing enterprises
.
④ Establish a sound supervision system for the use of food additives , strengthen the joint law enforcement of various departments, and ensure that the supervision of food additives can be carried out in an orderly manner
.
At the same time, it is necessary to increase the supervision of public opinion, especially the supervision of the news media, to effectively reduce or avoid the abuse of food additives
.

3.
4 strengthen the food safety law building laws and regulations, with sanctions violations of laws and regulations
in 2009, China formulated the "People's Republic of China Food Safety Law ", and to develop a standard portion of the food additive use, but as the economy continues to develop and With the continuous improvement of people’s living standards, these laws and regulations also have some lags that cannot meet actual needs.
Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen the construction of the food safety legal system; strengthen the top-level design of laws and regulations and standard-level constraints; strengthen the violation of relevant food safety laws Companies that comply with laws and regulations will be punished severely, and the deterrent effect of laws and regulations will be used to ensure that consumers can eat food with confidence
.

Ref
.
[1] Food Additives and Food Safety Zhouyu Jin SUMMARY [J] Modern Food .
2021 (1): 155-156
.
[2] Li Wen food additives and food safety issues [J].
Agriculture & Technology.
2021,41(1):43-44.