What is the harm of preservatives to people?

Preservatives refer to natural or synthetic chemical ingredients, which are used to add food, drugs, pigments, biological samples, etc., to delay the corruption caused by microbial growth or chemical changes. When it comes to preservatives, people often think that they are harmful, but in fact, they are safe to use. They are non-toxic and side effects on the human body. Let's take a look at what harm preservatives do to people.

What is the harm of preservatives to people?

Preservatives may bring some trouble to people's health. most of the preservatives used in food production in China are synthetic, improper use will have certain side effects, some preservatives even contain trace toxins, long-term excessive intake will cause some damage to human health. Benzoic acid, a widely used food preservative, for example, has been controversial internationally. For example, because benzoic acid and its sodium salt have been reported to be poisoned, the European Community Child Protection Group believes that it is not suitable for children's food. Japan has also made strict restrictions on its use, even as one of the internationally recognized safety preservatives, sorbic acid and potassium sorbate. Excessive intake can also affect the balance of the body's metabolism.

Action mechanism of food preservatives

1. Food preservatives can coagulate or denature the protein of microorganisms, thus interfering with their growth and reproduction.

2. Food preservatives can destroy or damage the cell wall or interfere with the mechanism of cell wall synthesis, resulting in the leakage of intracellular substances or affecting the respiratory chain electron transport system related to the membrane, thus having the effect of antimicrobials.

3. Food preservatives act on genetic material or genetic particle structure, which in turn affects the replication, transcription and protein translation of genetic material.

4. Food preservatives act on the enzyme system of microorganisms, inhibit the activity of enzymes and interfere with their normal metabolism.

Development trend of food preservatives

1. From higher toxicity to lower toxicity and safer direction: with the improvement of people's health requirements, food safety standards are becoming more and more stringent. Governments of various countries are rapidly revising food safety standards to improve food safety level and national health level. At the same time, they also use "green barriers" to protect domestic food industry and reduce the impact of foreign food on domestic food industry.

2. development from chemical synthetic preservatives to natural preservatives: in view of the safety and other defects of chemical synthetic food preservatives, human beings are exploring safer and more convenient natural food preservatives, such as nisin, natamycin, Monascus, lysozyme, chitosan, protamine, propolis and so on. Plant-derived Agar oligosaccharides, Eucommia ulmoides, spices, cloves, black plum extracts and so on.

3. From single preservative to broad-spectrum antiseptic: the bacteriostatic range of preservatives is relatively narrow, some have inhibitory effect on fungi, no effect on bacteria, and some have inhibitory effect on only a small number of microorganisms. therefore, most food production enterprises add a variety of preservatives to achieve the purpose of preservative, people are eager to use a wide range of food preservatives which can not only kill bacteria but also inhibit bacteria.

4. develop from harsh environment to convenient use: for example, some are sensitive to the pH value and heating temperature of food, some are poor in water solubility, some are too smelly, some lead to food discoloration, and so on. The development trend should be food preservatives with no stringent requirements on the food production environment.

5. Natural food preservatives with higher prices are developing towards lower prices: natural food preservatives are non-toxic and harmless, and the price is expensive, which is difficult for most food production enterprises to bear, such as lysozyme, nisin, natamycin, protamine and so on. Greatly reducing the cost of natural food preservatives is one of the prerequisites for large-scale promotion and application of natural food preservatives.