Aluminum additives under the ban

Many foods after the addition of aluminum additives such as steamed stuffed buns, steamed buns and fritters appear to be more fluffy and have more “sales”. These aluminum food additives are widely used in breakfast foods that are popular among the people. The National Health and Family Planning Commission and the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, etc. issued jointly by the five departments the “Notice on Adjusting the Use Regulations of Aluminum-containing Food Additives”. It is clearly stated that from July 1 this year, “the prohibition of acid sodium aluminum phosphate, sodium aluminosilicate And aluminum octenyl succinate starch is used in the production, operation and use of food additives. Aluminum-containing food additives may not be used in the production of expanded foods."

However, when reporters visited the surveys in many places, they discovered that even though the “aluminium ban” had been implemented for more than a month, the sales and use of aluminum-containing additives remained the same, and a large number of vendors and the public were not even aware of the existence of the ban. Under the weak supervision, the "aluminium ban" is facing an embarrassing situation of "doing nothing".


Under the ban, aluminum-containing additives remain hot

On May 14th this year, according to the provisions of the "Food Safety Law" and "Administrative Measures for New Food Additives," and the reassessment of aluminum-containing food additives in the "Standard for the Use of Food Additives," the "National Health and Family Planning Commission and other five departments" Announcement on Regulations for the Use of Aluminum-containing Food Additives was officially released.

The announcement also adjusted the scope of use of aluminum potassium sulfate and aluminum ammonium sulfate, requiring “a wheat flour and its products (except for fried noodle products, batters (such as batter for fish and poultry), flour, and fried flour. ) Aluminum potassium sulfate and ammonium aluminum sulfate must not be used in production.

However, the reporter recently discovered in several cities that aluminum-containing additives are still sold in supermarkets.

In a supermarket on the Yiling Avenue in Yichang City, Hubei Province, an aluminum-containing “beating powder” from Foshan, Guangdong Province, is still being sold. The ingredient list is marked with aluminum potassium sulfate, and the instructions for use indicate that it is suitable for making steamed bread. "Packages, cakes, biscuits, bread, etc." are obviously in violation of the "Aluminium Decree" requirement. In a wholesale market in the Donghu Road, there are also many compounded bulking agents and baking powders containing aluminum additives. Mr. Xu, the owner of the store, strongly recommended to reporters: “A lot of buns and Shantou shops are bought by me and the quality is guaranteed.”

When visiting the supermarkets and wholesale markets in Enshi City and Xianfeng County under the jurisdiction of Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture in Hubei Province, it was also found that aluminum-containing food additives were still being sold. The shopkeepers often said, "The sales have not been affected."

Strict policy actually "unknown"

While "aluminum" is not uncommon in the market, sales of aluminum-containing additives are also being carried out on the Internet platform. According to a search by Taobao.com, there are still many online stores selling aluminum potassium sulfate and aluminum ammonium sulfate, as well as acidic sodium aluminum phosphate and sodium aluminosilicate.

The reporter communicated with several shopkeepers. All but one shopkeeper said that he had heard of the “ban on aluminum” and all other shopkeepers said “unclear”. The shopkeepers stated that aluminum-containing additives are still being sold to Henan, Shandong, Hebei, and Tianjin, and have not been interfered with by relevant departments.

Sellers said that they were not aware of the “aluminium ban” and some shopkeepers in Shantou and Baozi shop also expressed “uninformed”. In a bun shop on Xueyuan Road, Jingzhou City, Hubei Province, the owner acknowledged the use of aluminum-containing baking powder, but stressed that "no one said it could not be used." In Wuhan, Yichang, and other places, many shopkeepers, bakeries, and bakery owners who are still using aluminum additives have said that they have not heard of the "banned aluminum order."

"The long-term consumption of aluminum-containing additive foods will cause great harm to the human body." Yang Zizhong, executive vice chairman of the Chinese Cereals and Oils Institute's Fermentation Pasta Branch, said that aluminum is often exceeded in foods, mostly because of the use of aluminum-containing additives. At present, the consensus of the academic community is that excessive aluminum will affect people's skeletal and nervous system health.

According to reports, aluminum exceeds the standard of harm to the body. Continual accumulation of aluminum in the human body can cause changes in the nervous system, interfere with people's thinking, awareness and memory, severe memory loss, tremor and physical coordination disorders, and even increase the risk of suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Can lead to cognitive impairment in children, decreased thinking skills, lack of attention in class, and hyperactivity. Excessive aluminum can also lead to the loss of calcium deposited in bone, inhibit bone formation, affect height, and cause osteomalacia. It also causes damage to the kidneys. Aluminum is excreted in the body through the kidneys. Excessive aluminum can cause kidney dysfunction and kidney failure.

According to the latest “Accidental Aluminum Exposure Risk Assessment for Chinese Residents” published by the National Food Safety Risk Assessment Center, as many as 32.5% of individuals in China have dietary aluminum intake that exceeds the weekly tolerable intake per person. In the daily diet, 75% of the total aluminum intake comes from aluminum-containing additive foods.

However, the “aluminium ban”, which is expected to reverse this trend, is deeply ambiguous.

Who can make it?

“The current situation is that on one side, the state requires it to be banned, and on the other side there is no sale.” Shang Shengsheng, deputy director of the Wuhan University’s Urban Security and Social Management Research Center, believes that “For those that are explicitly banned, sales should be banned. The use of these additives in the food industry must be strictly limited."

Shang Shengsheng pointed out that all levels of food safety supervision departments should also strengthen the supervision and inspection of the use of aluminum additives, the implementation of regulatory responsibilities and a clear penalty standards, can not let the dealers use of aluminum additives, to avoid the "banned aluminum order" as a dead letter.

At the "two sessions" this year, the National People's Congress representative of the "Proposal on Prohibiting the Use of Aluminum-containing Bedding Agents in All Foods" and Yao Qi, director of the Angel Research and Development Center of Angel Yeast Co., Ltd., believe that due to the partial non-aluminum expansion The price of loosening agent and baking powder is slightly higher than that of similar aluminum-containing products. Some people still choose aluminum-containing additives in order to reduce production costs.

Many experts, such as Yang Zizhong, pointed out that in the current “aluminium ban”, aluminum potassium sulfate and aluminum ammonium sulfate only limit the scope of use and have not been completely banned. Partial fried noodle products, batters (such as batter for fish and poultry), powdered flour, fried flour, etc. can still use aluminum potassium sulfate and ammonium aluminum sulfate, which means that the risk of public aluminum intake exceeding the standard remains the same. exist. Experts pointed out that these two types of aluminum-containing additives are not indispensable, and it is recommended that timely introduction regulations be banned as well, and that dealers, breakfast shops, etc., be allowed to exploit loopholes in order to better protect the public's “point of safety”.