Is emulsifiers added to bread, chocolate, and noodles harmful to health? Professor said

Reader Will Wu used this website's contact with me on 2024-12-8: Hello Professor

, this is my first time contacting you. If you have redundant words, please consult. Recently, I have seen some dangerous voices heard on Douyin.com, saying: "Don't eat supermarket bread because fatty acid glycerides and steroids are very harmful (cardiovascular disease, hypertension), "The risk of refrigeration in the refrigerator is higher", "It is recommended that the bakery just comes out, and it can only be stored for one day." The content of these videos can make you vomit blood, and it has been reported by the Taiwan Affairs Inspection Center. But I want to see from the professor's expert point of view, food baking emulsifiers, what impact will long-term involvement have on the body? (Note: He has a link to three TikTok videos)

Is the additive in the dried white jade bean published on 2024-11-12 OK? It is said that the name is sensible. Emulsifiers are to "emulsify" the various ingredients in the food together, so that they can increase the dense taste. Most of the ice cream, chocolate, salad sauce, etc. contain emulsifiers.

The function of the emulsifier is to mix two ingredients that cannot be mixed together, such as oil and water. For example, "natural" peanut sauce will be divided into two layers after being left for a period of time, so it needs to be mixed and remixed, and it also needs to be kept in the refrigerator to maintain quality. Peanut sauce with emulsifiers is not like this.

I also published Carrageenanthemum on 2022-12-26: Can it cause cancer? One of the paragraphs is: Carrageenanthemum is also called carrageenanthemum or carraspberry. It is a glycoside extracted from several types of red seaweed, including Kirin, Stonecao, and Carrilla. It has many physical and chemical characteristics such as gelling, thickening, emulsification, film formation, clarification, and fixation. Therefore, it has been widely used in various industries, including food and medicine.

emulsifiers have a wide range of uses and many types, and their names are difficult to pronounce, difficult to tell, so consumers are at the mercy of others, so there is no choice. But despite this, the demand for emulsifiers is higher than a year. According to the Emulsifiers Market Size, Share, and Trends 2024 to 2034 (emulsifier market size, share and trend from 2024 to 2034), the global emulsifier market size in 2023 is US$8.37 billion, and is expected to reach around US$16.26 billion by 2033, with a combined annual growth rate of 6.9% between 2024 and 2033.

As for whether emulsifiers have health risks, let’s first see what the US FDA says. It has an article updated on 2024-5-24 Food Additives and GRAS Ingredients – Information for Consumers (food additives and GRAS ingredient – consumer information) [Note: GRAS is a generally recognized as safe (generally considered safe), two of which are worth thinking about:

. Our ancestors used salt to preserve meat and fish, spices to improve the taste of food, made fruits with sugar and vegetables with vinegar solution. These ingredients help ensure a delicious, nutritious, safe, convenient and affordable price throughout the year.

. Emulsifiers, stabilizers and thickeners give consumers the desired quality and consistency.

Of course, it is impossible to say that many studies have believed that emulsifiers affect the ecology of the kidney microbial tract, thereby leading to diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and decreased cognitive function. For example: Food Emulsifiers and Metabolic Syndrome: The Role of the Gut Microbiota

However, as far as current evidence is concerned, these risks do not appear to be as high as the need to completely ban emulsifiers or other legal additives. See What Are The Experts Saying About Food Additives Ban Proposals? (What are experts' opinions on the proposal to ban food additives?).

In general, the use of emulsifiers is legal in all countries around the world. However, if you are still worried, don't eat additives. Of course, it definitely depends on whether you have the ability to judge whether you have added or not. I personally don't have this ability, so I can trust the food laws and not live in fear. For ordinary people, including myself, the real feasible way is to eat as little processed food as possible, including salad sauce, peanut sauce, cream, eugra, ice cream, chocolate, dried bakery, cakes, dried tofu, bread, and even noodles.

Original text: The impact of food emulsifiers on the body

Responsibility editor: Gu Zihuan