On February 11th, the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Commerce, State Administration for Industry and Commerce, General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, State Food Administration and State Food and Drug Administration issued an announcement (2011 No. 4), from May 1, 2011, the addition of flour whitening agents (benzoyl peroxide and calcium peroxide) to flour production is prohibited. The problem of flour whitening agent discussed for several years has finally settled.

　　On benzoyl peroxide, there are several issues that are very worthy of discussion. They are directly related to our attitude towards other food additives.

　　1. When was benzoyl peroxide approved for flour whitening? What is the maximum use limit?

　　1986, according to the Food Department The application was approved by the National Food Additives Standardization Technical Committee (hereinafter referred to as the Standard Committee) for safety review, and benzoyl peroxide was included in the "Health Standards for the Use of Food Additives" (GB2760). It is allowed to be used as a flour treatment agent and bleach in wheat flour Used in processing, the maximum use limit is 60mg/kg.

　　2. How is the actual use of flour whitening agent benzoyl peroxide?

　　 In order to make flour whiter and whiter, flour companies once used it generally Benzoyl peroxide. The overuse situation is more serious. It is reported that the best whitening effect can be obtained when 80mg/kg~100mg/kg is added. And this clearly exceeds the standards allowed by the state. This implies that many companies are adding brightener benzoyl peroxide in excess of standards. In addition, it is difficult to add it evenly in the existing processing technology, which may easily cause local content to exceed the standard and bring about hidden safety problems.

　　3. What is the role of flour whitening agent benzoyl peroxide?

　　benzoyl peroxide is a strong oxidant and has a strong It can bleach wax, cosmetics and flour. At the same time, it also increases the processing stiffness of flour, but this effect is weak and can be replaced by flour improvers. Therefore, the main role of benzoyl peroxide is to whiten (bleach) the flour.

　　 4. Is flour bleaching agent benzoyl peroxide harmful to health?

　　By adding benzoyl peroxide that meets the national standard Harmful, this is why it was approved as a food additive. However, the problem is that many flour companies, especially those with poor technology, use benzoyl peroxide to exceed the standard in order to obtain a good appearance for flour whitening. Excessive benzoyl peroxide is harmful, it has a certain irritation, and damage the liver, kidneys, blood vessels and skin.

　　5. What market problems does flour whitening agent benzoyl peroxide bring?

　　 In recent years, with the update and progress of processing technology, Some large flour processing companies have abandoned the use of benzoyl peroxide and used other methods to produce whiter flour. However, most small and medium-sized flour enterprises are backward in technology and the product quality is not high. They still rely on benzoyl peroxide to "whiten". Consumers can''t tell which of these white flours are added with whitening agents and which are not. This opens up a convenient door for "counterfeiting" (of course, it is also legal).

　　 6. What is the reason for banning flour whitening agent benzoyl peroxide?

　　 This time the main reason for banning benzoyl peroxide is not To discover or prove it is harmful to health, but "no technical necessity". How do you say this? First of all, flour need not be so white at all. "The whiter the better, the better." It is a consumption misconception. It is normal for wheat flour to have its own natural color. Secondly, even if you want to produce very white flour, you can achieve the goal by reducing the yield rate and other technical methods, without flour whitening agent benzoyl peroxide is entirely possible.

　　7. When was the earliest advocate to ban flour whitening agent benzoyl peroxide?

　　Soon after it was approved for bleaching flour, Against the use of benzoyl peroxide, the voice of proposing to ban benzoyl peroxide appeared. Early risers were some professionals, and later some corporate figures also voiced their opposition to the use of benzoyl peroxide. Especially in recent years, the voices of opposition have grown louder, and professionals, consumers, and business people have formed a broad consensus. This also pushed the Ministry of Health and other departments to make a final decision.

　　8. Who are the main people who oppose the ban of flour whitening agent benzoyl peroxide?

　　Since the Ministry of Health released the draft Since the ban on flour whitening agent benzoyl peroxide, it has gained wide support, but there are also many voices of opposition. Those who oppose the ban and support the continued use of flour whitening agent benzoyl peroxide, in addition to some theorists who love diamond horns, are mainly vested interests of benzoyl peroxide-those who must rely on whitening agents to produce "Good" flour companies.

　　9. The flour whitening agent benzoyl peroxide has been used for 25 years before and after, who is the beneficiary?

　　 To be sure, whitening The agent benzoyl peroxide does not bring any benefit to consumers-if the whitening eye addiction is not a benefit. Its beneficiaries are flour processing enterprises that use benzoyl peroxide, especially those backward enterprises and black processing enterprises that are desperately using the whitening agent benzoyl peroxide to obtain a "whitening" appearance. Of course, enterprises that produce and operate benzoyl peroxide are also beneficiaries.

　　10. What do we learn from banning flour whitening agent benzoyl peroxide?

　　The Ministry of Health approved the use of certain food additives, only considering it Whether it is harmful or safe is far from enough. You should also consider whether it is necessary to add it. As stipulated in Article 45 of the Food Safety Law, the use of food additives must meet two conditions at the same time, one is technically necessary, and the other is safe and reliable. Although benzoyl peroxide has been used according to regulations, no safety problems have been found, but since the flour processing industry no longer has the technical necessity of using the whitening agent benzoyl peroxide, it should be banned. According to this line of thinking, many of the widely used food additives are probably "unnecessary". So, who is the second benzoyl peroxide?