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When it comes to food additives, most people tend to equate them with unsafe. Are food additives really unsafe?Today, let's uncover the true veil of food additives and understand the truth behind it.The origin of food additivesIn fact, the use of food additives can be traced back to ancien

When it comes to food additives, most people tend to equate them with unsafe. Are food additives really unsafe? 

Today, let's uncover the true veil of food additives and understand the truth behind it.

The origin of food additives

In fact, the use of food additives can be traced back to ancient times.

In the Dawenkou culture period, people used invertase (sucrase) when brewing wine, which is actually a food additive and belongs to food enzyme preparations.

In the Eastern Han Dynasty, people used brine to make tofu, and the "brine" was a food coagulant used to improve the structure and texture of food.

In the Song Dynasty, people used nitrite as a food additive to make meat products such as bacon. Nitrite not only gives meat products an attractive color, but also inhibits the growth of bacteria and prolongs the shelf life of meat products.

What are food additives?

Food additives refer to artificial or natural substances added to food to improve food quality and color, aroma, and taste, as well as for preservation, freshness, and processing needs.

Common ones include antioxidants, leavening agents, colorants, preservatives, sweeteners, food flavorings, etc.

The role of food additives

1. Improve the stability of food: For example, antioxidants can effectively inhibit the oxidation reaction of oils and ingredients in food, slow down their decomposition and deterioration processes, and thereby enhance the stability of food.

2. Improve the quality of food. Bleaching agents, colorants, color protectants, flavorings, etc., can significantly enhance the color brightness of food, enrich its aroma, texture, etc., and optimize the taste, making food more attractive to consumers.

3. Maintain or improve the nutritional value of food: for example, nutritional fortifiers can supplement the nutrients lost during the processing and storage of food, or increase the content of certain specific nutrients in food, thereby improving the nutritional value of food.

Are food additives safe?

For food additives, the state has set clear and strict regulations on the principles of use, permitted varieties, scope of use, and maximum usage in the "National Food Safety Standard Food Additives Usage Standard" (GB 2760-2014), which also means that food additives have occupied a vital position in today's food industry.

For example, food spices and flavors shall not be added to pasteurized milk; the total amount requirements for aspartame, acesulfame potassium, aspartame, acesulfame, etc. when used together in the same food category have been increased.

Therefore, we should take an objective and rational attitude towards food additives, and use them reasonably and in a standardized manner under national regulations. Under this premise, the safety of food additives can be guaranteed.

CMC and YuCMC Co., Ltd.

CMC is a water-soluble cellulose ether obtained by chemical modification of natural cellulose. It has the properties of thickening, bonding, emulsification, suspension, film-forming, protective colloid, moisture retention, resistance to enzymatic hydrolysis and metabolic inertness. It is widely used in food, petroleum, toothpaste, printing and dyeing, batteries, medicine, papermaking, coatings and other industries.

YuCMC Co., Ltd. is located in Hebi City, an ancient city with a long history, with an investment of 300 million yuan, covering an area of 113,333 square meters in Heshan Chemical New Material Industrial Park. With an design annual output of 30,000 tons of high-purity carboxymethyl cellulose sodium products (CMC) and polyanionic cellulose products (PAC). YuCMC is a professional company that integrates production, R&D and services to meet customers’requirements.