High Frequency of Use of Additives in Children's Food in China

The first non-profit organizations that focus on children's environmental education "iearth - Love the Earth" recently released the "Children in 9 cities in China Intake of Food Additives Investigation Report". The survey shows that children's intake of food additives in China is not optimistic. - press of Xinhua Beijing, December 26 (Reporter Zhang Xi)

The questionnaire survey was conducted from June 2012 to July 39 primary schools in nine cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an, Shenyang carry. and the report shows that 34% of the surveyed children occasionally or frequently feel unwell for snacking.

The report said, the potential hazards of the nine types of children often eat snacks, including instant noodles, ham, candied fruit, jelly, ice cream, cookies, chewing gum, potato chips, milky tea, etc.. Ham, for example, the the ham sample survey, nitrite utilization rate up to 85.71%, while the long-term heavy intake of nitrites, amines reaction in the human body to generate carcinogenic nitrosamines.

The survey figures show that 7% of children eat instant noodles everyday, 8% of the children eat jelly everyday, 9% of children's eat potato chips daily, 11% of children eat ham everyday, 10% of children eat confection and milky tea everyday, the ratio of children with a daily consumption of chewing gum and biscuits is 15%, and in summer, the proportion of children eat ice cream every day is up to 26%.

The above foods listed are all have been added one or more types of additives, noted in the report, however, the So far, iearth has not yet collected the evidence or research on the security of a variety of mixed-use food additives, and whether toxic substances will produced between the different additives is still has no clear answer.

Research conclusions show thesurveyed children eat food additive-containing foods are generally high frequency, there may be a potential risk; and a large number of food additives which are not allowed to be applied in the infant food, remains widespread in food that young children often eat; food additives which are  banned in Europe and the United States countries are still widely eaten in our country, such as carmine, tartrazine, sunset yellow, light blue and so on.

The experts called for the children's parents should be aware of food additives are not safe for children, if your children enjoy eating snacks in long-term heavy, which will causing long-term damages to the children's health.

* Oroginally posted: About Additive

Try Mosquito Repellents with DEET now!

Brief: If you decide to try insect repellents, Consumer Reports recommends repellents with DEET as the active ingredient.

Consumer Reports recommends repellents with DEET as the active ingredient as a way to avoid mosquito bites.

Products that combine sunscreen with mosquito repellent have been shown to be less effective.

As the West Nile outbreak grows, many may be looking for the best ways to avoid mosquito bites.

If you decide to try insect repellents, Consumer Reports recommends repellents with DEET as the active ingredient.

The sprays were tested by applying the product to the testers' arms, and measuring how much time elapsed before the tester was bitten by a mosquito after he had placed his arms in a mosquitoes-filled cage.

For the four products that topped ranking, there were no bites after eight hours. Consumer Reports does not recommend using products that combine sunscreen with insect repellent.

* Oroginally posted: About Additive

Another Diary Enterprise in China Exposed for its Food Safety Problem

Following the case occurred with Yili Milk powder for its mercury content exceeds, another giant dairy enterprise in China also be exposed for its quality problems.

Recently, a consumer exposed on its weibo that part of Guangming brand dairy products(U-Best milk) have been mixed with cleaning alkaline water, then Bright Dairy followed with explanation on its official website, and recalls this patch of contaminated products.

An investigation conducted by the bureau Wednesday found that food-grade lye that was used to clean pipes had leaked into and contaminated a production line at one of the company's plants on Monday, a bureau spokesman said early Thursday, China Daily Reported.

The food-grade lye mentioned in the above report is food-grade alkaline water, food-grade alkaline is used as curing agent and meat tenderizer as food additive.

The food-grade alkaline is different with industrial alkali, the later is extremely corrosive, and is generally used as drain opener and detergent.

Just from the melamine milk event occurred in 2008, most of major dairy enterprises in China had been exposed public frequently for food safety quality problems.

From the end of last year, Mengniu milk be found contains excessive aflatoxin(a type of carcinogen) , then recently Yili’s baby formula and whey powder be exposed that contained excessive mercury, all these food safety events cause Chinese people left little confidence to their domestic dairy products…

* Originally Posted:

Caramel Used in Cola Drinks may Cause Cancer?

Brief: Cola Drinks was reported to be carcinogenic: An ingredient used in Coca-Cola and Pepsi is a cancer risk and should be banned, an influential lobby group has claimed. but Coca-Cola rejected the CSPI's concerns, so should we to throw away Coca Coke from now on?

An ingredient used in Coca-Cola and Pepsi is a cancer risk and should be banned, an influential lobby group has claimed.

The concerns relate to an artificial brown colouring agent that the researchers say could be causing thousands of cancers.‘The caramel colouring used in Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and other foods is contaminated with two cancer-causing chemicals and should be banned,’said the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a health lobby group based in Washington, DC.

This next morning Coca-Cola rejected the CSPI's concerns. A spokesman said: 'Our beverages are completely safe. CSPI's statement irresponsibly insinuates that the caramel used in our beverages is unsafe and  maliciously raises cancer concerns among consumers. This does a disservice to the very public for which CSPI purports to serve. Studies show that the caramel we use does not cause cancer.’

* Originally Posted: About Additive

Gelatin Panic, Spreads From Yogurt to Mini-Dumplings in China

Just another week in the life of a Chinese housewife: first it was yogurt made from old shoes, then tea tainted with pesticides and now comes news that even the sacred xiaolongbao – small steamed dumplings, the signature dish of Shanghai – may be harbouring dangerous additives.

The week began with stories in Chinese newspapers claiming that industrial gelatin extracted from old shoes was being used to thicken the new "solid" yogurts which have proved wildly popular for several local dairies in China, where sour milk products were previously drunk rather than spooned.

Then came a report from Greenpeace claiming that even the pride of Chinese teas are tainted by excessive pesticide residues.

And now it is the turn of the humble dumpling. Shanghainese awoke on Friday to stories in state-owned media denying that their beloved dumplings are being made with commercial gelatin rather than homemade pigskin jelly. Such a denial is a sure signal to most Shanghainese, schooled by decades of deceptive state news management, that things are not right in the dumpling world.

Foreign residents of Shanghai – many of whom are themselves devotees of the xiaolongbao – might possibly prefer commercial gelatin to "pig skin jelly" in their dumplings anyway. But true Shanghainese say that jellied pigskin is the key ingredient in a true Shanghai dumpling. According to state media, the skin must be chopped up and boiled for hours, then cooled until it forms a gelly and can be added to the dumpling's stuffing: without doing so, it might be a dumpling – but it can't be a xiaolongbao.

In truth, the dumpling story may be proof more of a general gelatin panic than a real xiaolongbao crisis: Monday's story about gelatin in yogurt, which caused a bit of an social media panic, may well have spawned Friday's story about gelatin in dumplings.

The yogurt panic was prompted by a microblog entry by an anchorman from CCTV, the state broadcaster, warning consumers not to eat solid yogurt, because he said an investigation had revealed that "The inside story is horrible".

He later deleted the posts, and the head of the China Daily Industry Association denied the story in state media. But at the local supermarket, the shelves were full of unsold thickened yogurts on Friday, suggesting that shoppers may still be suffering from gelatophobia.

Song Kungang of the China Dairy Industry Association said producers would not dare do anything so blatant as to add banned industrial gelatin to their yogurts. In a country that, scarcely four years ago, found hundreds of thousands of children sickened by the addition of the chemical melamine to their infant formula, it may be hard to pacify the public with that kind of logic.

China's dairy industry has never been short on chutzpah, and rightly or wrongly, many consumers think the industry would not let a few old shoes stand in the way of a bit more profit.

Originally Posted: About Additive

Starbucks Drinks May Dangerous to Asthma Sufferers?

Brief: Do there are bugs in coffee? According to U.S. media reports, the Starbucks coffee chain announced that they will switch to cochineal extract as the color pigment to their Strawberry Frappuccinos drink thus to reduce the use of artificial colors. However, the experts pointed out that this insect coloring agent may be sensitive to allergic asthma patients.

Have you ever wondered how Starbucks makes their Strawberry Frappuccinos look so vibrantly pink? The pink hue is thanks to crushed up insects, according to new information provided by the coffee chain giant.

In a statement released by Starbucks, the company has revealed that they use cochineal extract, which is the ground-up bodies of insects, as a dye for the popular rose-coloured beverage. Bugs from mainly Mexico and South America are dried out before they are ground and used in the milky-based Frappuccino drink.

As stomach-turning as it may sound, the ingredient is in fact harmless. Commonly used to help liven up the dull hues of jams, meats, cheese, baked goods, alcoholic drinks and more, cochineal extract has been used as a colouring agent in food and drinks for centuries. It has been deemed safe by the United States’ Food and Drug Administration.

Starbucks said it had decided to use cochineal extract to help limit the use of artificial ingredients in its products. 'At Starbucks, we strive to carry products that meet a variety of dietary lifestyles and needs,' the statement read. 'While the strawberry base isn't a vegan product, it helps us move away from artificial dyes.’

But the all-natural matter is not entirely free of health risks. The World Health Organisation has found that cochineal extract may cause asthma in some people. Others may see an allergic reaction.

Vegan fans may not be happy with its inclusion either. ThisDishIsVegetarian.com, an animal rights and eco-friendly news site, labels the extract non-vegan.

Originally Posted: About Additive