Chinanews client, Beijing, November 4th (Zuo Yukun) Recently, the fat houses may be unhappy.

  Also known as "Fat House Happy" food, potato chips are to snacks as cola is to drinks, combining the two elements of happiness on the tip of the tongue, potatoes and fried, occupying a leading position in snack foods.

  However, the happiness of kazikazi has been on the cusp recently-"a variety of well-known potato chips detected excessive carcinogens" was top searched.

Can our happiness continue?

15 potato chips tested.

Image source: Shenzhen Consumer Council WeChat Official Account

"Potential carcinogens" are above the benchmark, involving many well-known brands

  Recently, the Shenzhen Consumer Council (hereinafter referred to as the "Shenzhen Consumer Council") tested 15 well-known domestic and foreign brand potato chips and found that 7 potato chips contained 2A carcinogen acrylamide content higher than the benchmark level set by the European Union ( 750μg/kg).

  Among them, the potato chips of Youtianyou, Shanghaojia, RED ROCK DELI, and Liangpin Shop with acrylamide content between 750μg/kg-2000μg/kg; the highest acrylamide content, more than 2000μg/kg, are Yanjin Shop and San A squirrel and Miss Dong’s potato chips.

Acrylamide evaluation table.

Image source: Shenzhen Consumer Council WeChat Official Account

  As soon as the incident happened, the foodies' hands with the potato chips trembled slightly, after all, cancer is not a joke.

So what exactly is this acrylamide?

  Acrylamide, an organic compound, has potential neurotoxicity, genotoxicity and carcinogenicity.

In 1994, the International Cancer Institute under the World Health Organization rated acrylamide as 2A, which means it may cause cancer.

  But it needs to be pointed out that there is no substantial evidence for the carcinogenicity of acrylamide to the human body.

2A Carcinogen is defined as: a carcinogen that may cause human cancer, but it has not been confirmed by human studies.

  The World Health Organization also emphasized in its 2005 report that although animal experiments showed that acrylamide can cause cancer, there are still many uncertain factors in the deduction from animal experiments to the human body and the carcinogenic mechanism of acrylamide in humans, and further research is needed.

  At the same time, acrylamide is very common in our daily diet, and potato chips are not alone.

Coffee, bread, brown sugar, biscuits, and candied chestnuts and nuts are common foods containing acrylamide.

In the food processing process, acrylamide will be produced during thermal processing such as baking, frying and grilling at high temperature (above 120 degrees).

The Consumer Council and the Association Statement: "Acrylamide Exceeds Standard" is incorrect

  On the evening of the 2nd, the Shenzhen Consumer Council issued the "Statement on the Comparative Test of Potato Chips" and mentioned that there are major misunderstandings on topics and content such as "acrylamide exceeding the standard", which can easily mislead consumers.

Image source: Shenzhen Consumer Council's official website

  "Currently, there are no regulations or standards on the limit of acrylamide in food at home and abroad. Therefore, there is no so-called excess of acrylamide." The announcement stated that the EU set the acrylamide benchmark level value of 750μg/kg, but the benchmark level value is The performance indicator used to verify the effectiveness of mitigation measures is not the safety limit for acrylamide in food.

  In addition, the Potato Food Professional Committee of the China Food Industry Association also issued a document stating that the current detection of the acrylamide content in the baked potato chips produced by related companies is not enough to cause harm to the human body within the scope of normal consumption of snack foods. Any unhealthy elements are harmful to the human body. The concept of hazards must be considered.

  "According to relevant animal experiments, long-term intake, a minimum of 0.2mg/kg of body weight will cause neuropathy. If converted to a 50kg person, eating 5kg potato chips a day must be eaten for a long time; according to poisoning, the body will accumulate to 80~130mg/ kg/day of body weight will be poisoned, not counting the toxins that have been metabolized, people who converted into 50kg will eat 2000kg of potato chips.” China Food Industry Association Potato Food Professional Committee introduced.

Enterprise's voice provokes controversy: No standard = don't care?

  In this incident, three brands accused of potato chip samples with acrylamide content> 2000μg/kg also responded.

  On the afternoon of the 2nd, Ms. Dong Foods issued an explanation letter stating that the company strictly implements the national food safety standards for puffed foods.

my country currently does not have a national food safety standard for acrylamide or related requirements of other standards.

The company is making improvements to product technology and processes to reduce the acrylamide index content as much as possible.

Image source: Miss Dong Food's official Weibo

  In the evening of the same day, the three squirrels issued a statement stating that the product complies with national food safety standards.

The currently measured acrylamide content is not enough to cause harm to the human body within the range of normal consumption of snack foods; if consumers still have doubts about the product, they promise to return the product for a refund at any time.

Image source: Three Squirrels official Weibo

  On the 3rd, Yanjin shop issued a statement stating that the safety indicators of the company's baked potato chips products such as microorganisms and fried metal contaminants fully meet the requirements of national food safety standards and are quality products.

At the same time, the company has conducted technical research on reducing acrylamide.

Image source: Yanjinpuzi Food Co., Ltd. official Weibo

  But the responses of companies did not calm the hearts of consumers.

  Many netizens commented that although my country does not have such safety standards, food production and processing enterprises need to provide consumers with safe and safe food, instead of just letting the country take care of itself.

  "What's more, if there are companies that can do better than the standard, why can't they follow them?"

"Junk food" is risky, so import it should be restrained

  Regardless of the risk of carcinogenesis for the time being, it is not difficult to look at the test report of the Shenzhen Consumer Council. Among other nutritional indicators, 13 of the 15 potato chips samples are "high-fat" and 4 are "high-sodium" (high salt). , Long-term intake of high-salt and high-fat foods will increase the risk of obesity, dyslipidemia, and cardiovascular disease.

  At the same time, all the potato chips tested were "high energy" (high energy density), with an average energy value of 514kcal/100g, and each person consumed 100g of potato chips every time, about 72 minutes of jogging for consumption.

  It seems that the "eating less junk food" that our parents taught us since childhood is absolutely the truth. If we eat potato chips, there is no health.

  Perhaps some foodies have said that fried foods are known to be unhealthy, so are the baked potato chips advertised as "non-fried" healthier?

The test report shows that in terms of fat content, the fat content of fried potato chips is about 1.5 times that of baked potato chips, which sounds better.

  However, the average sodium content of domestic baked potato chips (557mg/100g) is about 1.5 times that of domestic fried potato chips (363mg/100g).

  At the same time, the average content of acrylamide in baked potato chips (3441μg/kg) is much higher than that of fried potato chips (547μg/kg) in the content of acrylamide that has caused the dispute this time.

The three potato chips with the highest acrylamide content are all baked.

Image source: Shenzhen Consumer Council WeChat Official Account

  "Bake potato chips take longer to make than fried ones, so it will lead to more acrylamide production." Zhu Yi, an associate professor at the School of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering, China Agricultural University, said the reason why baked potato chips are reserved for consumers The concept of health is to control calories. The oil of fried potato chips is indeed more dangerous than baked goods.

  Zhu Yi added that the acrylamide content in potato chips can be greatly reduced by selecting potato varieties and improving the processing technology.

Under the existing technological conditions, it is the responsibility and responsibility of the enterprise to minimize the "contaminants" in the food.

  "Through technological improvement, baked potato chips can (reach) low calories and control acrylamide." Zhu Yi said.

  In the future, will you still eat potato chips to your heart's content?

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