What is the "stained eggs pretending to be native eggs" exposed at the 315 party?

The "stained eggs" exposed at the party on March 15th this year were dyed with a feed additive called "Mylabris Yellow". Just seven years ago (212), the addition of cantharidin to salmon feed also caused a lot of controversy.

I'll tell you in detail what "cantharidin yellow" is and what's going on with "stained eggs".

Mylabris yellow is a derivative of β-carotene, which exists widely in nature and is also a legal feed additive.

"Mylabris yellow" added to chicken feed can make the color of egg yolk darker.

"Mylabris yellow" has no problem in safety, and belongs to a relatively safe additive.

The focus of this incident exposed on March 15th is that the merchants "cheat" and pass "stained eggs" as "native eggs", which has nothing to do with the safety of cantharidin.

The nutrition of "earth eggs" is similar to that of ordinary eggs, but the food safety is more hidden, and it is not so good in general. Everyone consumes rationally.

1. What is "Mylabris Yellow"?

Canthaxanthin, also known as canthaxanthin, is actually a derivative of β -carotene It exists widely in nature. It was first discovered in a mushroom, and then scientists found that this pigment exists in green algae, crustaceans, fish and eggs.

2. is "cantharidin yellow" legal?

At present, "Mylabris yellow" is a legal feed additive in China. In the Catalogue of Feed Additives (213), the application scope of cantharidin yellow is "poultry". Therefore, in China, adding cantharidin to chicken feed is completely legal and compliant. (Of course, if it is added to salmon feed, it will be beyond the scope of use.)

In the laws and regulations of the United States and the European Union, cantharidin can also be used as a food additive and directly added to food. However, in China, cantharidin is not a food additive, but can only be used as a feed additive.

The color of egg yolk is closely related to feed components. The content of lutein and zeaxanthin from natural sources in feed components largely determines the color of egg yolk. In fact, the color of eggs can be changed as long as the pigment of carotenoids is directionally added to chicken feed, and cantharidin yellow is one of the pigments of carotenoids. Adding cantharis yellow can not only make the color of egg yolk darker, but also make the color of chicken itself more vivid.

3. how safe is "cantharidin"?

according to the current large-scale safety research, "cantharidin yellow" is quite safe as a food additive or a feed additive.

As early as 1995, JECFA (World Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives, a special organization for auditing the safety of food additives) made a detailed study on the safety of cantharidin, and finally reached the daily allowable limit of .3 mg/kg body weight. Subsequently, this result was verified by many institutions, including the EU Scientific Committee for Food.

you may ask, since there is a daily allowable limit, if too much is added to the feed, will we eat a few eggs to reach the upper limit? How can this be safe? In 21, the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) evaluated the dosage of cantharidin, and finally came to the conclusion that the cantharidin added to feed would not exceed the daily allowable limit when ingested into human body through food. Therefore, the current usage will not cause food safety hazards.