Introduction: Today, not only are many foods vividly colored to stimulate consumers' desire to buy, but food packaging such as plastic bags, paper cups, tableware, and lunch boxes also comes in a dazzling array of colors. So, what are the hidden health hazards of colorful foods and their packaging for the human body? How can we avoid the negative effects of color temptation on our dietary lives? This issue presents a special report on the hidden safety hazards of colorful foods, divided into two parts, to remind you about colorful foods and colorful food packaging, respectively. We hope you can enjoy a safe, healthy, and scientific culinary life.
Various brightly colored drinks and ice cream, cream cakes with exquisite patterns made from various colors, and colorful candies... Walking into a supermarket, all kinds of colorful foods stimulate people's, especially children's, desire to buy. Just after this year's "June 1st" Children's Day, CCTV's "Weekly Quality Report" exposed the chaos of excessive and out-of-range use of food additives in some children's foods on the market. Experts point out that one should be cautious about eating brightly colored foods. Some colorful foods containing additives such as pigments pose hidden dangers to human health. Excessive or long-term consumption is harmful, especially to children's development.
Investigation:
Colorful Snacks Tempt Children
Reporters visited many supermarkets in Beijing and found that colorful snacks are随处可见 on the shelves, and in some supermarkets, the children's food sections are even more dazzling with a wide variety of colorful snacks. Realistic "Pleasant Goat," "Grey Wolf," Kitty Cat flying a plane, the "Angry Birds" that chirp, colorful Doraemon, Winnie the Pooh... All kinds of lollipops and shaped candies made the reporters marvel at the ingenuity of the manufacturers.
Reporters found that ordinary candies tempt many children with their bright colors and shapes. "Mom, I feel like I've walked into a fairy tale world. I want to buy this Winnie the Pooh lollipop. The color is so bright, it must be delicious." In front of a food counter in a supermarket in Chaoyang District, a pile of colorful snacks was displayed, and a little boy, about five or six years old, lingered for a long time. "We have a huge pile of snacks at home, but the child still wants to buy more. There's really nothing I can do. The temptation of colorful snacks on children is too great," the boy's mother said with a wry smile to the reporter.
Upon closer inspection of the ingredient lists of these candies, reporters found that most contain food additives such as pigments, flavors, and preservatives, with some containing as many as ten to twenty. The reporters saw a candy called "Mi Qi Ka Li," available in strawberry and blueberry flavors, but its actual ingredients had nothing to do with strawberries or blueberries. The ingredient list stated it was made from "Allura Red Aluminum Lake," "Brilliant Blue Aluminum Lake," and flavors.
Brightly colored jellies, juices, and ice creams are naturally "look beautiful" in the eyes of children. Reporters noted that on the market, whether single-flavored or mixed-flavor, juice drinks and ice creams all present tempting colors. The reporters saw a cherry-passion fruit juice drink whose ingredient list clearly stated "mixed fruit juice concentrate 1.6%," containing oligoisomaltose, hydrogenated glucose syrup, white sugar, and artificial colors and flavors. "As we all know, fresh fruit juice has a short shelf life. To extend it, juice drinks must reduce the content of original juice and instead use colors and flavors to improve taste and appearance," explained Zhang Weifeng, a food expert and senior national nutritionist.
Data:
Up to 15 additives in a single popsicle
A recent report titled "Survey on the Intake of Food Additives in Children's Foods in 9 Chinese Cities" released by the "Love Earth" environmental organization has attracted widespread attention. The report shows that children's foods generally contain multiple food additives such as edible flavors and colors. The analysis of ice cream, a snack with high consumption frequency for children in summer, found that among 37 different flavors of common brands of popsicles on the market, 100% used edible flavors, and 86% added various colorings. A total of nearly 100 different additives appeared in the ingredient lists, mainly including 15 colorings, 12 emulsifiers, 11 thickeners, 8 sweeteners, and 7 acid regulators, in addition to 37 edible flavors. A single popsicle contained as few as 6 additives and as many as 15. "Children are always attracted to brightly colored and delicious foods. Many merchants, to cater to children's sensory needs for color and taste, use multiple colorants in the processing of children's foods," a person from the "Love Earth" environmental organization introduced. Taking a certain brand and flavor of popsicle as an example, its packaging lists 15 food additives, including 5 colorants alone: caramel color, carmine, scarlet, brilliant blue, and turmeric. It also contains 5 thickeners such as xanthan gum and locust bean gum, 3 emulsifiers such as mono- and di-glycerides, as well as sweeteners, sorbitol, and edible flavors.
Warning:
Misuse of colorants is harmful to health
"Various snacks undergo a 'subtraction and addition' during production and processing," said Professor Feng Lei, an expert from the Ministry of Health's Nutrition and Health Project Team. He believes that in the process of making snacks, nutrients from raw materials are reduced, while various additives are added. Experts explained that the bright colors of foods on the market today are due to colorants. Common food colorants, commonly known as pigments, include two categories: natural and artificial synthetic.
"After the melamine incident, China revised the "Hygienic Standards for the Use of Food Additives," which now allows only 9 synthetic edible colors: carmine, lemon yellow, sunset yellow, indigo, brilliant blue, allura red, etc., and 40 natural edible colors. "Although the amount of each additive in any food does not exceed the regulated dose and will not cause harm under normal intake, there are still hidden health risks due to the immature metabolic organs of children," experts emphasized. In addition to increasing the burden on children's metabolic functions, the cumulative effect of additives can also affect their immune system, cardiovascular system, and intellectual development, with the harm being more significant the younger the child.The report released by the "Love Earth" environmental organization emphasized that long-term, large-scale intake of foods containing food additives can cause potential harm to children's healthy growth, with the burden on organs such as the kidneys being the primary concern. "There are hidden dangers in the normal use of additives, and in addition, there are widespread problems of misuse. Misuse includes exceeding the dosage and scope of use. Misuse of additives may lead to children's attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and many other health problems," said a well-known nutrition expert who wished to remain anonymous. The behavioral toxicity caused by colorants is receiving widespread attention in the industry. In recent years, many studies, including many from abroad, have found and confirmed a link between artificial synthetic colors such as sunset yellow, lemon yellow, quinoline yellow, and allura red, and the preservative sodium benzoate, and the occurrence of ADHD in children. The reason is that long-term consumption of foods with artificial additives can lead to lead poisoning. High levels of lead in a child's blood can easily cause hyperactivity and lack of concentration. "Our country has strict restrictions on synthetic colors, which are only allowed in carbonated drinks, cold drinks, candies, and fruit juice drinks. However, misuse does exist. From the perspectives of health and safety, food coloring should lean towards natural ingredients. In recent years in the UK and the US, the use of natural edible colors is gradually becoming the industry mainstream," said Zhu Yi, an associate professor at the College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering at China Agricultural University.
According to the latest information from reporters, the Ministry of Health recently announced its intention to revoke 38 food additives, 17 of which are colorants, including tea yellow pigment, tea green pigment, orange yellow, blackcurrant red, and other colorants. Experts and consumers have welcomed this news. "The Ministry of Health stated that after expert review, these additives are no longer technically necessary and will therefore be revoked. It seems that the colors of snacks may become more monotonous in the future," experts emphasized. Colorful snacks are children's favorites, with artificial colorants appearing most frequently. Even if the content of colorants is low, long-term consumption can still affect health. To prevent children from consuming artificial colorants, parents must be especially careful and not let their children eat overly bright-colored snacks at will. Healthy, scientific, and rational dietary concepts should be cultivated from a young age, and children should be encouraged to stay away from the temptation of bright colors and experience the wonderful taste of natural foods as much as possible.