Purchasing Children's Food - No Need to Worry Too Much About Additives

Food Additives: No Need to Worry Too Much for Parents

Every child is the beloved treasure of parents. When hearing claims like "food additives can affect children's intelligence development, causing obesity and precocious puberty" or "don't let food dyes accumulate into your child's childhood," parents may inevitably have concerns about food safety for children. In fact, these statements contain misguidance or even rumors.

On December 6th, Professor Wang Bei, Vice Dean of the Food and Health College of Beijing Technology and Business University and a PhD supervisor, stated in an interview with the Science and Technology Daily that food additives have been part of human diet and the foundation of modern food industry since long ago. She also emphasized that China's food additive standards are formulated and implemented strictly, and parents do not need to worry excessively about additives when purchasing children's food. Instead, parents should pay more attention to the nutritional content of children's food, and not "focus on small things and miss the big picture."

There are relatively few types of food additives allowed for use in Chinese infant formula foods.

"There are more than ten thousand types of food additives allowed worldwide, but only around two thousand types are used in China. Many additives that are already allowed abroad have not yet been included in the national standard in China due to considerations such as food safety and characteristics of Chinese dietary culture. Therefore, overall, the standardization of food additives used in China is quite strict, especially for infant formula foods."

According to the National Standard for Safe Use of Food Additives (GB 2760), there are only a few types of food additives allowed for use in Chinese infant formula foods, mainly including emulsifiers, thickeners, acidity regulators, and leavening agents. In addition, the standard strictly regulates the types and maximum usage amount of each food additive allowed for use in infant formula foods. For example, although guar gum, a common food thickener, can be used in formula foods for babies aged 6-12 months and toddlers, it cannot be used in formula foods for babies aged 0-6 months. In addition, the standard strictly stipulates that no food flavoring can be added to any formula foods for babies aged 0-6 months. The standard is very strict.

"Therefore, using food additives according to national standards is legal and safe, and consumers do not need to worry too much,"

"Parents should pay more attention to the nutritional content of food."

Children are at an important stage of physical development, and their physical organs are still not fully developed. Therefore, when formulating national standards for food additives, special caution is required for the selection of the names and maximum usage amounts of additives allowed in infant formula foods. In addition, the amount of food additives added in food is very small, so their impact on children's growth and development can basically be ignored.

"However, compared to food additives, it is more important to pay attention to the nutritional content of food itself. When buying snacks for children, parents should choose products with high nutritional value, such as milk and yogurt, so that children can get more protein, calcium, lutein and other nutrients. As for some highly processed foods with high sugar, high fat, and high salt content, they should be eaten less. Compared to food additives, the impact of nutritional components on children's bodies is actually much greater. When parents choose foods for their children, they should pay more attention to the nutritional needs of children at different stages of growth and development when choosing products."

"The rumor that food additives cause early sexual maturation in children is unfounded.

" There is no scientific evidence to support this claim. The chemical components that cause early sexual maturation must be related to hormones, but there is no component in food additives that is functionally or structurally similar to hormones, so legitimate food additives cannot cause early sexual maturation.

"This rumor may have originated from bisphenol A (BPA), which was found to have a estrogen-like effect in the body. However, since 2011, China has banned the production of food containers for babies and young children that contain this substance. Therefore, this issue is now in the past."

This type of statement is similar to rumors such as "soy milk causes early sexual maturation," and may have originated from a chain of misunderstandings and misconceptions. She suggests that consumers trust food produced by legitimate food manufacturers, as the additives used in these foods are within a safe range and there is no need for excessive worry whether it is for adults or children.