Can Pu'er tea cause cancer? Can drinking herbal tea extend your life? ...What major food safety incidents have occurred in the food industry in the past year, and what is the scientific truth behind the incidents?

The 2017 Food Safety Hotspot Scientific Interpretation Conference is jointly guided by the State Food and Drug Administration and the China Association for Science and Technology, and hosted by the China Society for Food Science and Technology in Beijing. Experts in multidisciplinary fields from many universities and research institutes The top ten hot food safety events in 2017 were analyzed on-site. Professor Meng Suhe, Chairman of the Chinese Society of Food Science and Technology, pointed out that judging from the overall trend in 2017, the density of public opinion hot spots has decreased and the popularity has decreased, while the content related to food nutrition and health in new hot spots has increased significantly.

In addition, the top ten food rumors on the Internet in 2017 were also released at the interpretation meeting. It is worth mentioning that the society specially invited Dr. Peter BenEmbare, director of the Food Safety Department of the World Health Organization (WHO), to give a video report, in which the rumors about "junk food" were officially clarified. Dr. Peter said, "WHO has never released a list called the "Top Ten Junk Foods," let alone treating all processed foods or fast food as "junk food." Processed foods that provide nutrition and convenience are also a modern healthy balance. part of the diet¡±.

1

Hot Topics

Deceptive Marketing of Health Foods

According to the new Food Safety Law, only foods that are allowed to claim functional Health food, but now the health food industry has long-standing problems of illegal additions and counterfeiting; false propaganda and illegal claims have been repeatedly banned. Currently, deceptive marketing is a major problem in the supplement industry.

Interpretation expert: Zhu Beiwei (Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Director of the National Marine Food Engineering Technology Center of Dalian University of Technology)

First of all, health foods are not medicines and have no effect in treating diseases. Restrictions on suitable groups of people and special eating conditions. Secondly, health food fraud and false advertising are a major problem facing an aging society. Health food science propaganda should mainly go deep into the community to help the elderly easily verify and verify when faced with false propaganda and brainwashing marketing.

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Hot Topics

Pu'er tea "cancer" controversy

An August 2017 article "Can drinking tea prevent cancer or cause cancer?" "The article once again aroused consumers' attention to Pu'er tea. The article believes that there are various molds in Pu'er tea, including aflatoxins that are harmful to the human body. Subsequently, many industry experts refuted the rumors about the incident.

Interpretation expert: Chen Zongmao (Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and former director of the Tea Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences)

Aspergillus flavus likes to grow and reproduce in substances rich in fat and protein. , and form toxins, and Pu'er tea is an agricultural product with very low fat and protein content; in addition, the production process of Pu'er tea is not conducive to the reproduction of Aspergillus aflatoxin and the production of toxins. It is recommended that when consumers purchase Pu'er tea, they should not buy it if they find water stains on the paper bag, the tea cake is obviously moldy (such as frost or mildew spots) or the taste is bad.

3

Hot spots

Safety issues appear in ¡°Internet celebrity foods¡±

In August 2017, due to containing state-controlled drug ingredients, The Nanhai Branch of the Foshan City Public Security Bureau in Guangdong Province investigated and dealt with an internet celebrity drink called "Kawa Chao Drink". Coincidentally, the popular catering brand "Yi Cong Xiao Jue Xing" also closed all its stores in Shanghai due to food safety issues and disappeared from major catering platforms. On August 15, 2017, the official website of the State Food and Drug Administration announced that pistachios (225g/bag) produced by "Three Squirrels" on January 22, 2017 were found to have excessive mold, and the detected value was 70CFU/g. Exceeding the national standard by 1.8 times.

Interpretation expert: Zhong Kai (Deputy Chairman of the Youth Working Committee of the China Society for Food Science and Technology)

"Internet celebrity catering" is constantly renovating its tricks in terms of marketing, appearance, taste, etc. to adapt to It reflects the characteristics of rapid transformation of hot spots in the catering industry. However, some "Internet celebrity foods" and health foods are sold on Internet platforms, which are outside the existing regulatory system and are prone to fraud, pyramid schemes and food safety issues.

The supervision methods of "Internet celebrity food" should be innovative, implement the main responsibilities of Internet platforms, strengthen social governance, handle major and important cases seriously and expeditiously, have zero tolerance for violations of laws and regulations, and issue warnings for borderline behaviors . The key to cracking down on illegal activities is to be careful and careful, rather than to increase punishment.

4

Hot spots

French milk powder recalled

According to foreign media reports, the French government issued a recall in 2017 due to suspected salmonella contamination. On December 10, it announced an expanded global recall of infant milk powder produced by French infant milk powder manufacturer Lactalis. French health authorities said that since early December 2017, 26 babies in the country had become sick after drinking milk powder produced by the company. Subsequently, nearly 7,000 tons of problematic milk powder were urgently recalled, and the countries involved in the recall include the United Kingdom, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sudan.

Interpretation expert: Chen Ying (Vice President and Chief Engineer of the Chinese Academy of Inspection and Quarantine)

Salmonella exists widely in nature and can cause a variety of animal infections. Infant formula milk powder manufacturers should strengthen product quality and safety management to reduce the risk of microbial contamination such as Salmonella. While China should improve its food recall system and related legal systems, it should also strengthen the management of online stores, especially cross-border e-commerce, and the supervision of product distribution channels such as infant formula milk powder. In addition, if infants and young children have symptoms such as diarrhea, vomiting, high fever, anorexia, etc., they should seek medical treatment in time to find out the cause, early detection and early treatment.

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Hot Topics

Chinese Salted Fish Carcinogen Controversy

On October 30, 2017, the official website of the State Food and Drug Administration released The list is initially compiled based on the list of carcinogens published by the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer. Among them, Chinese salted fish, which is popular in coastal provinces, is on the list of Class 1 carcinogens.

Interpretation expert: Wu Yongning (Chief Technical Engineer of the National Food Safety Risk Assessment Center)

As far as nasopharyngeal cancer is concerned, in addition to the pickled salted fish factor, certain groups such as Guangdong and The genetic factors of Guangxi people, especially the susceptibility to Epstein-Barr virus, are important factors in the development of nasopharyngeal cancer. Therefore, primary prevention of cancer, that is, etiological prevention, is a comprehensive approach. At the same time, we must also be aware of the impact of the dose-effect relationship. Although salted fish is a type 1 carcinogen, it is still a delicacy when people eat it frequently and the amount each time is very limited. We cannot simply link eating salted fish with cancer. Draw an equal sign.

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Hot Topics

Can drinking liquor fight cancer?

In early November 2017, at the "Major Breakthrough in Chinese Traditional Liquor Research" press conference, it was announced that "for the first time in the world, the non-volatile lipopeptide compound - lichen" in traditional Chinese liquor was detected and identified. "Su" news. Subsequently, media reports went from "Lipopeptide active substances were found in liquor and have anti-viral and anti-cancer effects" to "Liquor has anti-viral and anti-cancer effects, so you can finally drink it openly." Such opinion articles have been widely circulated among friends and sparked heated discussions.

Interpretation expert: Ma Guansheng (Director of the Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, Peking University)

Lichenin is a non-volatile macromolecular lipopeptide compound with biological active function. However, the discovery of lichenin in liquor does not mean that liquor has corresponding biologically active functions, nor can it be concluded that "active ingredients are found in liquor, so drinking alcohol is good for health." The main chemical component of liquor is ethanol. Some liquors contain a small amount of sugar, peptides or amino acids, as well as other non-nutritional chemical components. Moderate drinking has a psychostimulant effect and produces a sense of pleasure. But excessive drinking, especially long-term excessive drinking, can be harmful to health.

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Hot spots

The aluminum content of alum-free fried dough sticks exceeds the standard and attracts attention

In December 2017, Shanghai Consumer Rights Protection Committee The official website announced that during its inspection of the consumption of fried dough sticks in Shanghai, it was discovered that the aluminum content of fried dough sticks produced and sold by some catering institutions exceeded the standard.

Interpretation expert: Tan Bin (researcher at the National Grain Administration Academy of Sciences)

Alum-free fried dough sticks does not mean aluminum-free fried dough sticks. The "National Food Safety Standard for the Use of Food Additives" (GB2760-2014) stipulates that aluminum-containing food additives (aluminum potassium sulfate or aluminum ammonium sulfate, also known as potassium alum, ammonium alum) can be used in fried dough sticks and other fried noodle products according to the production regulations. It needs to be used in an appropriate amount, but the residual amount of aluminum is required to be <100mg/kg (dry sample, calculated as aluminum).

China and other countries have conducted sufficient research on aluminum-containing food additives, and have established strict standards for their scope of use, dosage and residual amounts. As long as the amount of aluminum residues in food meets national food safety standards, it will not cause harm to human health.

A total of 26 samples were sampled during this incident, and only one sample had aluminum residue exceeding the standard by 9 times. Possible sources of aluminum residues in these samples, in addition to aluminum-containing food additives, may also come from naturally occurring aluminum in food.

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Hot spots

Drinking Wong Lo Kat ¡°can extend life by 10%¡±?

On December 6, 2017, at the Fortune International Technology Brainstorming Conference, the head of Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group, the brand owner of Wong Lao Kat herbal tea, announced: The results of the National 863 Program showed that drinking Wong Lo Kat It can extend the life by about 10%. This statement aroused widespread concern and doubts from public opinion. That day, GPHL issued a response stating that this conclusion was drawn through a two-year safety experiment on 576 rat samples. The experiment found that the survival rate of rats in the Wanglaoji herbal tea experimental group was better than that of the control group, indicating that long-term drinking of Wanglaoji herbal tea can extend the life of animals.

Interpretation expert: Sun Baoguo (Vice Chairman of the China Society of Food Science and Technology, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering)

The research project mentioned in the incident was observed through rat experiments, and due to the large Rats and humans belong to different species, and conclusions obtained in experiments on rats may not necessarily apply to humans. Moreover, the nature and purpose of this test is toxicological safety evaluation, not functional evaluation. In fact, the research team of the experiment did not come to the conclusion that "drinking Wong Lo Kat can extend your life by 10%." This conclusion is not a research result of the national "863" research plan. This incident is purely commercial speculation.

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Hot Spots

Strengthening of Online Catering Supervision

At the end of December 2017, in order to further require China¡¯s online catering service platforms to clearly In order to implement the relevant requirements of the soon-to-be-implemented "Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Food Safety in Online Catering Services", the State Food and Drug Administration interviewed the heads of China's major online catering service platforms such as Ele.me, Baidu Waimai, and Meituan-Dianping. The "Measures" have clear provisions on a series of aspects to protect consumer rights, including "online merchants must have physical stores, and online and offline stores must be of the same quality."

Interpretation expert: Feng Enyuan (Vice President of China Cuisine Association)

The Internet technology advantages of the platform can provide data analysis and technical support for online catering food safety management. Measures such as random inspections and monitoring, bright kitchens with bright stoves, cleaning and disinfection standards for delivery boxes, hot and cold dual temperature boxes, packaging seals, and recommended safe and environmentally friendly lunch boxes will promote the improvement of catering food safety management levels.

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Hot Topics

Typical rumors of flammable noodles when cooked hot or cold

For some time, there have been reports that noodles are flammable. occurred, and attributed the reason for "flammable noodles" to "the addition of plastic" and other illegal substances, or the use of additives that are harmful to the human body. Netizens who did not know the truth have forwarded it. Can food that can be ignited still be eaten normally?

Interpretation expert: Shen Qun (School of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering, China Agricultural University)

Dried noodles themselves are combustible and will burn when the conditions for combustion are met. Some people attribute the reason why noodles are flammable to the addition of illegal substances such as plastic, or the use of additives that are harmful to the human body. This is a low-end, ridiculous food safety rumor.

Top Ten Food Rumors on the Internet of the Year

1. Is seaweed made from waste plastic bags?

Truth: The composition of seaweed and plastic bags is very different, and they can be distinguished by soaking in water and burning.

2. Will eating durian and milk together cause caffeine poisoning?

Truth: Milk and durian do not contain caffeine. The statement that eating the two together will cause poisoning is obviously unfounded.

3. Someone uses plastic to make fake rice?

The truth: The plastic rice in the video is actually recycled plastic particles being processed, and its price is much more expensive than ordinary rice.

4. Does soy sauce without soy sauce code cause cancer?

Truth: The so-called code is actually the national recommended standard for brewing soy sauce, and companies can also formulate more stringent corporate standards.

5. Are meat floss cakes made of cotton?

Truth: Meat floss is animal protein, and cotton is plant fiber. They look similar, but their texture, color, and taste are very different, making it impossible to fake them.

6. Are meat, eggs and milk the root causes of modern geriatric diseases?

Truth: Meat protein is an important source of nutrients for the human body. There are also health risks in being vegetarian. A reasonable diet is the key to a healthy diet.

7. Could the viral ¡°dyed onions¡± really be fatal?

Truth: The blue substance is actually a copper-containing fungicide, which is water-soluble and can be removed by washing with water.

8. Does ¡°Big Grain Fasting¡± really have anti-aging and anti-tumor effects?

Truth: Light fasting and fasting cannot be equated with autophagy, and there is no evidence that fasting can delay aging and prolong life.

9. Is low-sodium salt a fatal salt?

Truth: Low-sodium salt helps control sodium intake and is safe. However, people with renal insufficiency have poor potassium excretion ability and should consume it with caution.

10. Water spinach is the king of poisons?

Truth: The amount of pesticides and heavy metals is related to the growing environment. Water spinach produced in accordance with national standards can be eaten with confidence.

Text/reporter Zhang Yanyan

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