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

Japan will Approve Saccharin Sodium as a Food Additive

March 13, 2012, Japan released the G/SPS/N/JPN/295 bulletin: Modify the Food Sanitation Law, and the Food and Food Additive Standards Implementing Regulations. and Approve saccharin calcium be a food additive, to develop the substance of the standards, and to amend the standard of saccharin sodium .

The proposed date of the approval, publicaiton of this notification will be released after the final date of review as soon as possible, and the proposed date of take effect will take effect after a certain grace period,  and the final date for receiving feedbacks is May 12, 2012.


Originally Posted: About Additive

High-Tech Creat Out New Drinks

Cooking is one big science experiment. Now chefs have been gaining fame for more explicit use of scientific techniques and tools in the kitchen.

Now, according to an article in the December issue of Physics World, mixologists -- the folks behind the bar -- are getting into the act. They're borrowing tools from the labs to create wild new libations.

Here's one example. Alcohol is better than water at delivering flavors and aromas, since many of its molecules aren't water-soluble.

Plant material is fermented and then heated to extract the alcohol that contains those flavors --- that's distillation. But the heat produced during the distillation process will destroy some aroma molecules.

Enter the scientists' rotary evaporator, somewhere it is rather like a mist evaporator. When the fermented liquid goes in the rotating container, the pressure is lowered, so volatile components evaporate. Then a cool coil condenses the vapor back into liquid.

One mixologist in London used this technique to make a mild habañero liqueur. The spicy capsaicin isn't volatile --- so it gets left behind. The final product has the fruity and floral flavors of chili peppers with none of the searing heat.

For more proof, go to the article "Cocktail Physics" at physicsworld.com. Thanks

Originally Posted: About Additive

Fungicides Found in Orange Juice, Coca-Cola told Gov't

Cola-Cola Co. said Wednesday it found an unapproved fungicide in orange juice made by Coke and its competitors, and alerted federal regulators that some Brazilian growers had sprayed trees with the substance.

The beverage giant, which makes Simply Orange and Minute Maid, would not say which brands had shown the fungicide. Both brands contain juice from Brazil.

The Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency have said orange juice is safe to drink and the levels found are below levels of concern.

Atlanta-based Coca-Cola, which makes the Minute Maid and Simply Orange brands of orange juice, said Thursday it had notified FDA of the low levels of the fungicide carbendazim in the company's orange juice and in competitors' juice. The FDA had said Monday that an unnamed company had told the agency about the fungicide and confirmed Wednesday the company was Coca-Cola.

Neither the FDA nor the company said which orange juice products tested positive. Carbendazim is not currently approved for use on citrus in the United States, but it is used to combat mold on orange trees in Brazil, which exports orange juice to the United States. Fungicides are used to control fungi or fungal spores in agriculture.

The FDA said Coca-Cola found levels up to 35 parts per billion of the fungicide, far below the European Union's maximum residue level of 200 parts per billion. The U.S. government has not established an official maximum residue level for carbendazim in orange juice.

The Environmental Protection Agency has said a risk assessment of carbendazim showed no risks at up to 80 parts per billion, but officials believe real levels of concern are much higher.

"The residues we have seen reported at 35 parts per billion are thousands of times below the concentration that would raise safety concerns," said EPA spokeswoman Betsaida Alcantara.

Coca-Cola spokesman Dan Schafer said: "This is an industry issue that affects every company that produces products in the U.S. using orange juice from Brazil."

Most orange juice products made by Coke and other companies contain a blend of juice from different sources including Brazil. In addition to Coca-Cola, Pepsico Inc.'s Tropicana brand is one of the largest U.S. orange juice producers. A spokesman for Tropicana declined to say whether the company had done its own testing for the fungicide.

The FDA has begun testing shipments of orange juice at the border and will detain any that contain more than 10 parts per billion of the chemical. Because the fungicide is not approved for use in the United States, any amount found in food is illegal, but FDA spokeswoman Siobhan Delancey said any amount below 10 parts per billion isn't measurable. All tests released by the agency so far have been negative, she said.

The agency said it won't remove any juice currently on store shelves because it doesn't believe the levels of residue are harmful, though that juice is also being tested.

In the letter to the Juice Products Association earlier this week, FDA official Nega Beru asked the industry to ensure that suppliers in Brazil, the world's largest orange producer, and other countries stop using the fungicide.

"If the agency identifies orange juice with carbendazim at levels that present a public health risk, it will alert the public and take the necessary action to ensure that the product is removed from the market," he said.

Orange juice for March delivery fell 10 cents, or 5.3 percent, to $1.781 per pound on Wednesday. Coca-Cola Co. shares fell 49 cents to close at $67.57 and Pepsico Inc. shares fell 39 cents to close at $64.62.

The fungicide discovery comes after the FDA said it would also step up testing for arsenic in apple juice. FDA officials said last year that the agency is considering tightening restrictions for the levels of arsenic allowed in the juice after consumer groups pushed the agency to crack down on the contaminant.

Studies show that apple juice has generally low levels of arsenic, and the government says it is safe to drink. But consumer advocates say the FDA is allowing too much of the chemical - which is sometimes natural, sometimes man made - into apple juices often consumed by children.

Patty Lovera of the advocacy group Food and Water Watch said the FDA and the Agriculture Department, which also oversees food imports, should have a better system for tracking potential contaminants in food.

"It seems like we keep playing catch up chemical by chemical," she said. "As we import more and more, this isn't going to be the last time this happens."

Originally Posted: About Additive