Sina Health: According to media reports, the test of CNN in the United States shows that the McNuggets sold by McDonald's in the United States contain the chemical component "tBHQ", and the tBHQ content of each chicken piece is 0.02%. What kind of substance is this? Is it harmful to human body?
Liu Qingchun: This is an "oil antioxidant". Adding proper amount of oil can inhibit mold and prevent oil from deteriorating. It can also be called an oil preservative. This substance has certain toxicity and carcinogenicity, so it is absolutely inappropriate to overdo it. This ingredient was detected in Mai Le Chicken, although it was not excluded to keep Mai Le Chicken for a long time, but it was more likely to be added as an oil preservative in the process of producing edible oil for fried chicken legs.
Sina Health: How is the use of this substance regulated in China at present?
Liu Qingchun: In the hygienic standard for the use of food additives in China, the use is restricted, not prohibited. The maximum dose is 0.2g/kg. However, it is not ideal to monitor the use of this substance because there is no simple and unified detection method in China.
The dosage of polydimethylsiloxane per kilogram should be less than 0.1g.
Sina Health: As a food additive, is polydimethylsiloxane in the list of additives used in China?
Dong Jinshi: polydimethylsiloxane is a food additive, which can be used to prevent excessive foaming during frying. At present, this substance is considered non-toxic and relatively safe internationally. The dose per kilogram is limited to below 0.1g. The working temperature should be limited between -50 and 200.
Sina Health: How should consumers treat food additives scientifically?
Dong Jinshi: Additives are actually indispensable things in food. Without these additives, our food will become tasteless, shapeless and can't be preserved. Moreover, at present, the food additives in the National Hygienic Standard for the Use of Additives are safe only after a large number of international experiments, and then their usage amount and conditions are stipulated. There is no need to "talk about additive discoloration". At present, the problem is that the detection of additives is passive, and it depends more on the self-discipline and consciousness of enterprises, which leads to many illegal additions. This is a bottleneck problem in current supervision and needs to be solved urgently. Consumers should also be reminded not to eat a certain food for a long time. Although additives are safe to use, long-term cumulative effects will also increase food safety risks.