After the flour "forbidden"

From May 1, the flour was officially "banned." In the past two days, when the reporter visited the market in Beijing, it was discovered that the packaging of individual flours (wheat flour) has been marked with the words “no brightener” and “without additives”. In this regard, many people are puzzled, a wide variety of flour, how to identify whether the addition of brighteners? How can the government supervise to ensure that the "banned" policy is implemented?

"Whitening" flour is commercially available or will continue for a year on May 11th. The reporter saw a flour counter at Wangjingdian, a Wal-Mart store in Beijing. The flour (wheat flour) has a wide variety of bread flour, dumpling flour, nutrition-enhanced flour, and special flour. Wheat flour, high-gluten flour, and so on, no less than ten species, there are individual varieties on the package written "no brightener," "does not contain additives." In front of the counter, reporters randomly asked the citizens who bought flour, most of them said that they knew that the flour whitening agent had been banned, but they had doubts about how to ensure that the “banned white” measures were implemented. "Most flours are not labeled. How do you know if there are brighteners inside? Even if you do, there really isn't any inside?" said a middle-aged woman.

According to the notice of 7 ministries and commissions of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, since May 1 of this year, the addition of benzoyl peroxide and calcium peroxide two food additives (commonly known as whitening agents) to flour has been banned, and food additive companies cannot produce Sales of benzoyl peroxide and calcium peroxide. However, flours that have been added with whitening agents can be sold until the end of the shelf life. According to Di Zhenyu, head of the Food and Chemical Enforcement Brigade in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, the longest shelf life of flour is 12 months. Therefore, it is theoretically estimated that flour containing brighteners may not be completed until May 1, next year. Delisting.

How to ensure that the flour "ban" measures are implemented? Di Zhenyu believes that the first step should be to strengthen the supervision of production, flour production enterprises and additive manufacturers, should strictly abide by state regulations. Secondly, increase the intensity of random inspections in the market, especially in the period of time when the policy has just been implemented, through high-frequency random inspections and strict penalties to deter violations. Finally, relevant departments should introduce measures to encourage companies to mark the contents of additives on the flour outer packaging so as to facilitate the public's purchase and supervision.

Is Flour Enhancer Safe? “Our company is small, but we don't need (benzoyl peroxide) this brightener anymore. We're not going to do anything illegal!” Miao Zan, head of a small flour mill, told reporters Use, taste, need, and now there are many types of additives that can be used in flour production, collectively referred to as flour improver. For example, if flour is used for buns in the future, it will become bun powder after adding a special bun improver; it will be used for dumplings, and there will be dumplings improvers; others will also have a steamed bread improver, a noodle improver, a strip conditioner, and Surface improver and so on. There are some flour products, such as ribs, which require a high degree of gluten, as well as special flour gluten.

"What are the ingredients of these modifiers?" the reporter asked.

"Not very clear. There are special enterprise productions, which are approved by the state and all have approval documents," Miao praised.

Miao Zan provided reporters with a product description of a brand of taro powder improver. This special type of steamed bread improver “has a good effect on the whiteness of the face and the brightness of the skin. It can make the skin of the steamed buns white and bright. At the same time, it can increase the volume of the steamed buns and make the internal structure of the steamed buns delicate and extend the length of the steamed buns. The "fresh-keeping period", "This type of steamed bread improver is especially suitable for medium-strength and medium-low gluten flour." The approval number of the product is "Sanitation License": Yu Wei, Food, Tx, [19**], No. **** number.

According to reports, the taste of flour made from new wheat is not good, and some of them are sticky and have insufficient gluten. It takes a few months to make gluten stronger, and the taste of the pasta is better. This process is called "after-ripening" of the flour. The principle is that a sulfur-containing amino acid in the protein is oxidized to become a disulfide bond, so that the cross-linking of the protein in the flour becomes stronger, which is reflected in the taste is better elasticity and toughness. Associate Professor Fan Zhihong of the Department of Nutrition and Food Safety at the College of Food Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, introduced that benzoyl peroxide and calcium peroxide were originally approved by the country as additives. The basic use of the additive is not whitening, but rather it is “after-ripening” through oxidation reactions. Role, improve the taste. In the past, companies were rushing to add too much because consumers liked flourish flour products. If this preference for consumption does not change, even if the two oxidants are banned, it is likely that other substances will be added in the future in order to achieve the desired whitening effect.

Fan Zhihong believes that even if it is not for whitening, the taste of flour must always be solved in a certain way. Some low-tech companies are likely to seek alternative oxidants. The safety of these new alternatives is worrying. "Substitutes are not necessarily safer than the two additives that were once used, and the relevant departments need to pay great attention." Fan Zhihong said that special attention should be paid to the fact that there are more varieties of compound additives and the production threshold is not too high. Products that have emerged, such as "fermentation agents," "strong surface fines," "flour improvers," and "ramen noodles," may become more popular when the government bans both additives. "What are their ingredients and whether they are safe to use? We must pay close attention."

The reporter found that the Ministry of Health recently announced that illegally adding food to the “black list” found that the non-edible substances that are easily added in the flour include: hanging white blocks (whitening effect), potassium bromate (increasing gluten strength, whitening), and fluorescent whitening substances . Food additives that may be abused in flour include titanium dioxide and potassium aluminum sulfate. Titanium dioxide is a food additive that can be used in limited quantities in preserved fruits, jellies, and fried small foods. However, titanium dioxide is forbidden to be added as a whitening agent in wheat flour. Aluminium potassium sulfate is abused in wheat flour, cakes and other noodle products, can make food white, crunchy.

Buy flour to see the packaging logo Faced with a wide variety of flour products on the market, how do people buy? Di Zhenyu suggested that to buy flour, it is best to go to shopping malls or supermarkets to purchase products that bear the “QS” (Production Permit) mark. The packaging of flour is intact. When buying flour, check the label on the package to see if the content of the label is complete. These include: product name, factory name, site, production date, shelf life, product standards implemented, ingredient list, net content, etc. In addition, the most recently produced flour should be selected.

Miao Zan said that due to trace amounts of carotene in wheat, the milled flour should be milky or yellowish in colour. Once the additive is added, the flour turns white. However, such differences are difficult for ordinary people to discern in commercial products. In other words, it is not very difficult for professionals to detect whether there are additives in flour. Wheat is generally stratified and milled, and the higher the intermediate grinding grade is, the higher it will be. According to nutritional content, it should be the best whole wheat. In addition, flour is generally divided into high-gluten, medium-stranded, and low-gluten. Muscle power mainly refers to the level of protein. Ramen is generally made with high-gluten flour, biscuits, breads, etc. with low-gluten flour, and all kinds of flour cakes are made with medium-gluten flour, which can be purchased by the general public according to the purpose.