A short story about food safety

The food market at the end of 2006 was not calm. The recent incidents of poisoned rice, poisoned milk powder and paraffin oil still reverberate, and carcinogens such as Sudan red and malachite green have set off waves of turbid waves. Under the overwhelming media coverage, previously unknown terms such as Sudan red and malachite green have become the focus of discussion. Because the communication channel of public information is not perfect, one of the direct consequences it brings is that people are in a panic of not knowing what to eat today. According to a survey in Guangzhou, 80.7% of the respondents expressed different degrees of concern about whether they were worried about safety when buying food.

However, is this "panic" necessary? Is this understanding correct? What measures should we take to avoid "toxic" food?

Food safety:

Tutor: Professor Chen Junshi, academician of China Academy of Engineering, chief scientist of key technologies of food safety.

-In June 2006, snails were infected with Angiostrongylus cantonensis in Beijing, 13 1 human infection.

-In September 2006, clenbuterol poisoning occurred in Shanghai, and more than 300 people were hospitalized.

-On June 5438+065438+1October 12, 2006, a large number of "red heart duck eggs" were found to contain Sudan IV, and the carcinogen Sudan Red once again entered people's field of vision.

-June 2006: 5438+065438+ 10/7, hairy crabs, turbot, mandarin fish, etc. It was found to contain carcinogen malachite green and prohibited antibiotics.

There is a saying about food safety.

Food safety-an exaggerated crisis

As the saying goes, "Food is the most important thing for the people". Food is related to everyone's health, and its safety is self-evident. However, food safety accidents occur frequently, fake and shoddy products are exposed frequently, and food poisoning incidents occur one after another ... which leads to "what else can we eat?" It has become the most common cross-examination in the media at present. The implication is that there is no absolutely safe food at present.

However, is this understanding really correct?

"This is an irrational mentality of the public under media hype!" Facing the question "What else can we eat?", Chen Junshi, academician of China Academy of Engineering, chief scientist of key technologies of food safety and researcher of Institute of Nutrition and Food Safety of China Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said this in an interview with Family Medicine.

In fact, according to many food safety experts, including Academician Chen Junshi, the food safety problem in China is not as terrible as reported by some media-

First of all, we are too sensitive to food additives. Food additives are an indispensable part of modern food processing industry, which play an important role in the color, variety, quality, taste, nutrition and preservation of various foods. Without food additives, the food industry is unimaginable. Take sorbic acid and potassium sorbate as examples, both of which are internationally recognized as safe preservatives and harmless to human body. It is because of them that sweet raisins from Xinjiang can still be kept fresh in the mouth of Beijingers.

Secondly, in today's society, it is unrealistic and impossible to pursue "zero risk" of food. There are always food safety threats around us: mutton skewers contain carcinogen benzopyrene, pickles contain nitrite, and cigarettes are as toxic as Sudan red ... Unless we live in a vacuum, our bodies will always be attacked by harmful substances. This is true in any era. At present, no country in the world dares to say that its food is absolutely safe, so there is absolutely no need for us to worry about it all the time.

Today is safer than yesterday.

In fact, from another perspective, why there are so many food safety incidents exposed now shows that our supervision system is more perfect and the detection methods are more advanced.

Academician Chen Junshi said: "In fact, from the results of large-scale national market sampling conducted by the Ministry of Health every year for more than 20 years, the qualified rate of our food has increased from about 50% in the past to 90%, and even the qualified rate of soy sauce is above 80%, which is a great progress. However, the people have higher requirements for food safety, and this requirement is reasonable. "

Since 2002, led by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine and other departments have cooperated to carry out major scientific and technological special research on "key technologies of food safety", starting from four aspects: detection, monitoring, control and demonstration, providing key technical means for government regulatory authorities to strengthen supervision, reduce and control food pollution. Chen Junshi is the chief scientist of the project.

In the past, industrial and commercial law enforcement officers mostly relied on sensory recognition and empirical judgment such as visual inspection and nose sniffing, which had great limitations. On the basis of establishing and improving safety standards, scientific and technological personnel invented rapid detection kits, food detection vehicles and other equipment, which greatly boosted the confidence of law enforcement personnel. At present, many large and medium-sized cities in China are equipped with food inspection vehicles, which can detect pesticide residues in vegetables in 20 minutes, formaldehyde in 30 minutes, and illegal additives such as sodium nitrite and sodium nitrite. * * * There are many kinds of products of 10 involving 10. We can sample several supermarkets in one morning.

"Improving the testing level is the focus of our work." Chen Junshi said that through tackling key problems, the technology they developed can effectively detect pesticides, veterinary drug residues, molds, natural toxins and pathogenic microorganisms, and one sample can detect 150 kinds of pesticide residues. The rapid detection kit for avian influenza and Newcastle disease shortened the work that could be completed in the past 2 1 day to 4 hours, and the results were very reliable. In the process of preventing and controlling avian influenza, these technologies have been widely used throughout the country. The food safety quick detection box even went to shenzhou spaceship to detect space food.

Therefore, in the face of frequent food safety problems, we should pay attention to them, but both the media and the public should "say one thing and say another". Don't exaggerate the wind as rain. Ordinary people should face it rationally with a peaceful mind.

Learn 3 tricks and plan ahead.

Of course, food nutrition experts also pointed out that rational face is by no means a problem of prevention. While enjoying delicious food and facilitating life, we should also learn to solve food safety problems and protect our health from "toxic" food to the maximum extent.

Food nutrition experts summed up three suggestions for us to prevent toxic food from damaging our health.

The first trick is to diversify your diet.

If we look at all kinds of food safety incidents calmly, we can find that most toxic and harmful substances are harmful to human body under the premise of a certain intake.

Taking Sudan Red as an example, in the risk assessment report of Sudan Red issued by the Ministry of Health, it is pointed out that the dosage of Sudan Red to induce animal tumors is 654.38+ 10,000 ~ 654.38+10,000 times that of human beings, and a person needs to eat 654.38+0.200 "red heart duck eggs" to cause harm. In other words, accidental intake of food containing a small amount of Sudan red has little risk of cancer. Of course, Sudan red will accumulate in the human body, and if you regularly consume foods containing high doses of Sudan red, it will increase the risk of cancer.

Academician Chen Junshi pointed out that the fact that food contains toxic ingredients does not mean that food is toxic. Whether the ingredients of a food are harmful to the human body depends on the amount and duration of intake. No matter how good the salt is, it will be poisoned if you eat too much at one time. Even drinking a lot of water without restraint can cause "water poisoning". On the other hand, all kinds of "toxic" additives or residues, especially all kinds of essences, pigments and preservatives, are safe at regular doses except for a few eliminated varieties. Even the notorious clenbuterol and malachite green are not harmful to human body unless they are ingested in large quantities for a long time.

Experts also pointed out that it is equally dangerous not to eat all foods that look "dangerous". Because of this panic about food safety, it may bring about a decline in the nutritional quality of meals. Some people are afraid to eat green leafy vegetables for fear of pesticides, eggs for fear of Sudan red and milk for fear of antibiotics ... These foods are the most important source of human nutrition. Long-term nutritional imbalance brings greater risks to the human body than occasionally eating a duck egg containing Sudan red.

It can be seen that for ordinary people, the most important and simplest way to solve food safety problems is to establish the principle of dietary diversification. Enriching the variety of food will naturally reduce the intake of a single food, and will not break through the safety line of the body at a safe dose.

In short, eating everything, not too much, can not only achieve a balanced nutrition, but also effectively avoid the harm caused by "dangerous" food.

The second trick is to look at the logo when shopping.

For food safety, the state has begun to establish a supervision system. For those who pass the inspection and certification, relevant labels will be printed on the food packaging. As ordinary people, we just need to know them and pay attention to the shelf life of food.

1.QS flag

QS is the abbreviation of English quality and safety. Having this mark means that the food production and processing enterprise has passed the national inspection, and all the indexes of the food meet the requirements of relevant national standards. All QS numbers consist of 12 digits. Consumers can go to the website of AQSIQ and enter the QS code to see if it corresponds to the enterprise product, so they can immediately distinguish the true from the false.

2. Pollution-free agricultural products

The possession of this sign indicates that synthetic safe chemical pesticides, veterinary drugs, fishery drugs, fertilizers and feed additives are allowed to be used in limited quantity, variety and time during the production of such products. Can ensure people's basic needs for food quality and safety.

3. Green food

Green food does not simply refer to "green" food, but refers to pollution-free safe, high-quality and nutritious food. When shopping, it should be noted that only packages with icons on the right and numbers beginning with "LB" can be called real green food, otherwise they are counterfeit.

4. Organic food

The word Organic Food is literally translated from English. It refers to the agricultural and sideline products that come from the organic agricultural production system, are produced and processed according to international organic agricultural production standards, and are certified by independent organic food certification bodies without using chemically synthesized pesticides, fertilizers, growth regulators, feed additives and other substances.

Of course, products with these logos are usually products with their own brands. Now, all walks of life in food processing have formed some famous brands. In the face of hard-won brands that win the trust of the people, enterprises naturally cherish them, thus strictly controlling product quality. At the same time, these large enterprises are always under the supervision of the state and consumers. Therefore, believe and buy brand-name food, food safety is more secure.

Food from producers to thousands of households has to go through a link, that is, retailers. Compared with the traditional vegetable market, large supermarket chains will put food quality and safety in a more important position and pay attention to self-discipline. At the same time, the unified management of supermarkets also provides the possibility for the unified management and supervision of relevant state departments. The constant attention of the news media makes the behavior of supermarkets "stand in the sun" at any time and accept social supervision, which also adds a layer of protection for food safety.

The third trick is to learn 9 memos.