"Counting" chemicals "allowed" to be used in ham
Recently, some ham production facilities have switched to using a chemical called "cheater" instead of borax.
Based on product advertising information, it can be seen that there are currently many types of chemicals "serving" the processing of ham and sausage such as preservatives sorbic acid, potassium sorbate, sodium erythorebate, sodium benzoate..., and "meat flavoring" to make the ham fragrant... with the smell of meat.
Faced with the trend of consumers strongly boycotting ham using borax for fear of health risks, recently some ham production facilities have switched to using a chemical called “chiller”, which is considered safer than borax. Is this really a harmless food additive?
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| Pork sausage - an indispensable ingredient in favorite dishes such as vermicelli with crab soup, wet rice cake... Photo: Thanh Hao |
Crispy ham thanks to chemicals
Buying half a kilo of pork sausage from a familiar stall in the market, Ms. Lam Thi Thanh Thuy (Tan Phu district, Ho Chi Minh City) tried it and found it bitter. Thinking that her health was having problems, Ms. Thuy invited a few people around her to try it. As a result, everyone confirmed that the sausage tasted bitter. Wondering why such a crispy, fragrant and delicious sausage was bitter, some people suspected that there was borax or something else in the sausage.
Looking for that “something else”, we discovered a “chewy” additive that is sold quite a lot at some market stalls and online. It is a white, rough powder, retailing at 20,000 VND/100g. The seller said that this type is mainly used for processing ham, sausage, spring rolls…
According to the seller, the toughening additive should only be mixed at a ratio of 3g/kg of meat, if too much is added it will be bitter. When asked to buy 100g, the seller quickly went behind the counter, poured out a small bag, put it in a black foam bag and gave it to the customer quickly as if afraid of being caught.
Online, this additive is introduced as a mixture of di-tri polyphosphate, which helps increase emulsification ability, increase adhesion, create toughness, high water retention, reduce product weight loss, and save costs.
Based on product advertising information, it can be seen that there are currently many types of chemicals "serving" the processing of ham and sausage such as preservatives sorbic acid, potassium sorbate, sodium erythorebate, sodium benzoate..., and "meat flavoring" to make the ham fragrant... with the smell of meat.
In the list of food additives permitted for use by the Ministry of Health, the group of emulsifiers with polyphosphate roots such as sodium polyphosphate, trisodium diphosphate has the function of adjusting acidity, preserving, creating foam, preventing caking, stabilizing color, anti-oxidizing, emulsifying, flavoring, firming, treating dough, moistening, stabilizing, thickening.
Beware of osteoporosis
After looking at the unlabeled “crunchy” chemical powder package bought at Kim Bien market (District 5), Dr. Tran Bich Lam, lecturer of the Food Technology Department, Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, said that from the outside, it could be polyphosphate. However, if you add too much and it becomes bitter as the seller advised, there could be other ingredients added, and it would have to be tested to know.
According to Dr. Lam, polyphosphate is an additive that helps retain water well in the form of a bond, used in the frozen seafood industry to reduce mass loss. In the processing of ham and sausage, polyphosphate helps increase the ability to emulsify, create a sticky gel, and create a crunchy texture unlike borax (chemical name is sodium tetraborate decahydrate or sodium borate decahydrate).
However, scientists recommend not to overuse polyphosphate. Dr. Bich Lam explains that in the human body, the amount of calcium and phosphorus needs to be in a fixed ratio. Too much phosphorus will reduce the ability to absorb calcium, leading to osteoporosis, especially for the elderly.
Therefore, although polyphosphate is not banned, if abused it will be harmful to health. Currently, some substances that have the effect of creating emulsification, binding water, increasing toughness to replace polyphosphate and borax are carrageenan, CMC, maltodextrin and trehalose, which are more expensive.
According to Dr. Bich Lam, consumers need to be careful when using food additives, and must buy products with packaging and labels. Because business people do not care about nutritional value or safety factors, but only care about whether the product creates a sensory appeal to consumers or not. In addition, the State needs to strictly manage the import and output of imported chemicals, including additives that are allowed to be used.
In reality, many consumers are still not equipped with the knowledge to recognize which substances are harmful to health, such as the case of Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc in District 11. Ms. Ngoc went to the market to buy borax to make banh xeo "crispy like in the store". The seller asked the whole story and then advised: "No one puts borax in making banh xeo at home!" Only then did Ms. Ngoc realize: "So using borax is... toxic".
According to AloBacsi.vn