No preservatives may not be purely natural to prevent food packaging subtext

This article reads: With the improvement of living standards, the quality of life of the public has also increased, the diet requirements are more stringent, once was a big fish, now is light and good, once was the number to win, now is the nutritional priority .

When buying food, savvy consumers pay attention to the nutrients and main ingredients after food packaging. However, it should be reminded that although the package has specific ingredients, it is sometimes necessary to be cautious about the “poisonous” effect because consumers are easily attracted to information on “self-promotion” on food packaging. Experts recommend buying food. It is best not to be fooled by packaging. Then, how do you look at these tempting remarks in advertisements and packaging? Here, we choose some representative arguments to dissect the subtext and the truth of the product.

● "without preservatives"

Although there is no preservative, it does not say that it does not contain other food additives. Antioxidants, flavors, colorings, coloring agents, fresheners and the like are all possible inside. In other words, the absence of preservatives does not guarantee that it is in a "naturally pure" state.

Naturally, many foods do not use preservatives, such as canned foods containing salt and sugar, as well as extremely dry foods such as instant noodles and dried noodles. Because cans can completely kill the bacteria and spores inside, and at the same time they are sealed up, so that the outside bacteria can not get in, so it does not require preservatives. Without water, bacteria cannot reproduce, and large amounts of salt and sugar act as preservatives.

But if the salt and sugar content is too high, it is worse than containing preservatives. Because the salt content is too high to endanger health, it is much more than a few percent of preservatives. For example, some soy sauces, pickles, etc. claim to contain no preservatives, which are usually salty espresso, or even sugar-covered products. Therefore, "this product has no preservatives" can not be a priority for consumers to purchase the food.

● "without artificial colors"

In other words, they still contain pigments, but these pigments are not synthetic pigments, but are extracted from natural raw materials. For example, carotenoid extracts, monascus pigments, and purplish red pigments are all pigments derived from natural foods.

Relatively speaking, natural pigments can be eaten with confidence, but in the extraction process, it does not rule out trace amounts of organic solvent residues. As long as it meets the relevant product standards, there is no problem, but the thick color of the general product is the pigment, which means that the raw materials are not so "natural."

For example, the kind of red or green “juice” products that are common in shopping malls looks like fruit is concentrated, and large fruit images are also drawn on the packaging. However, a closer look at the raw material description will reveal that it contains about 20% of the original juice. In other words, 80% of the content is a mixture of water, sugar, flavors, colors, thickeners, etc. Despite the use of natural pigments, it is still misleading consumers that it is more than 100% juice.

● "Without sucrose"

This description is common in aleurone products such as cereals, sesame paste, and also on packages such as biscuits, snacks, and the like. Their packaging reads "without sucrose," which means no sugar. The middle-aged, the elderly, the diabetic, and the obese people easily think that these foods are suitable for eating, so they let go of their scruples but it is a mistake.

Because of the rapid rise in blood sugar, there is much more than sugar. The rate of rise of blood glucose in refined starch is fast enough. Dextrins, maltodextrins, maltose syrup, glucose syrup, and fructose syrup made from starch are all growing faster than those made from sucrose. In sugar-free products, these ingredients are often seen.

In terms of nutritional value, sucrose-free does not mean that it contains more nutrients than other products.

● "No MSG"

Western-style products often have "no MSG" instructions, which seem to be relatively healthy foods. However, many experts suggest that the absence of monosodium glutamate does not mean that it does not contain the component of sodium glutamate, but it does not mean that it does not contain artificial components.

Because there are too many fresheners used in the food industry today, besides monosodium glutamate, sodium nitrite, sodium organic acid, chicken essence, yeast extract, vegetable protein hydrolysates, etc. There is a lot of sodium glutamate in the product, which is not much worse than MSG. So consumers who are allergic to MSG, or have restrictions on the sodium content of foods, should be careful to buy.