Is there any preservative in the biscuit?

Food is easy to go bad in summer, and many packaged foods are added with preservatives and preservatives to extend the shelf life. However, the reporter's investigation yesterday found that some food production enterprises played a "preservative-free" brand, which was greatly sought after by Guangzhou citizens. Some experts pointed out that food preservatives are harmless to human body, and "preservative-free" is misleading propaganda.

Food without preservatives sells well.

Yesterday morning, the reporter visited a number of large supermarkets in Guangzhou and found that a few foods showed "preservatives" in their own ingredients. For example, the ingredient lists of Sprite, Diet and mirinda all indicate that sodium benzoate is a preservative, and Watson's fruit candy is marked with the word "preservative" after the chemical component "potassium sorbate".

However, more food manufacturers take advantage of customers' psychology that preservatives are harmful and put up a "preservative-free" brand. For example, foods such as Jinfen brand slippery spicy noodles and mixed-flavored drinks in farmers' orchards are marked "preservative-free" on the packaging. Supermarket sales staff said that the food marked "preservative-free" on the package sold better than similar foods.

"It is safer to eat without preservatives." This is the answer that the reporter got when interviewing consumers in several supermarkets. Most respondents think that the packaged food marked "preservative-free" is safer, and some consumers even think that this is a new mandatory policy of the country.

Lu Yi, a consumer, said frankly that "this product is absolutely preservative-free" and "additive-free" advertisements frequently appear on food labels and advertisements, which makes people unconsciously think that "preservative-free" food is safe food. At the same time, it also causes consumers' fear of food preservatives and their harm to the body.

Rational use of preservatives is harmless.

Is "preservative-free" food really safe? The reporter interviewed Yang Guanfeng, president of Guangdong Food Culture Association. Yang Guanfeng said that preservatives were added to prevent microbial growth in food, which led to food decay and deterioration. Large-scale food safety problems are mostly caused by food decay and deterioration, and to some extent, preservatives are not added according to regulations. At present, there are more than 20 kinds of preservatives allowed to be used in a certain amount in China, mainly natural preservatives extracted from animals and plants, and sorbic acid and benzoic acid are widely used.

Yang Guanfeng believes that some food companies will mislead consumers and turn food "safety guards" into food safety "killers" by labeling them as "preservative-free". He said that the use of preservatives by food production enterprises in accordance with national standards is the guarantee of food safety. Most preservatives will be digested by the human body. For example, sorbic acid itself is a fatty acid, which can be completely decomposed and absorbed by the human body.

Non-preservative statement or illegal

People in the legal profession believe that some enterprises mark "preservative-free" on food packaging, which is misleading, suggestive and demeaning to other foods and violates the relevant laws of our country.

Lawyer Chen Hao of Guangzhou Law Firm pointed out that the Advertising Law, the Product Quality Law, the Consumer Rights Protection Law and the General Standards for Food Labeling stipulate that business operators shall not make misleading propaganda on their products, that is to say, business operators shall make misleading propaganda on their products. The propaganda of "preservative-free" may make consumers mistakenly think that preservatives are harmful, thus damaging other operators who produce or sell goods containing preservatives.