What are the hazards of flour whitening agents

Flour can be used to make a variety of pasta, but in supermarkets, many flours look very white, which means that whitening agents have been added to the flour. The natural smell of flour is wheat flavor. If whitening agents are added, the smell will be abnormal, and the nutritional components of the flour will be destroyed, which is very harmful to the human body. So what are the hazards of flour whitening agents?

First, what are the hazards of flour whitening agents? Flour whitening agents are artificially synthesized non-nutritional chemicals that have no benefits but only harm to the human body. Benzoyl peroxide: Benzoyl peroxide, a whitening agent currently commonly used in flour, is a strong oxidant that not only destroys nutrients such as VA and VE in flour, but also causes damage to the liver if consumed for a long time. Therefore, many countries have banned its use.

Second, because whitening agents are added to the flour, the steamed buns made from it look white and plump, so they will sell better. The scientific name of the whitening agent is benzoyl peroxide. It will not cause harm to the human body within the national consumption range, that is, the maximum usage does not exceed 0.06g/kg. Some large-scale grain and oil companies basically meet the standards because the relevant national departments have very strict inspections. However, there are more than 40,000 grain and oil companies in China, most of which are small and medium-sized enterprises. The relevant state departments have inadequate supervision over small and medium-sized enterprises, and the incidents of excessive use of whitening agents are very serious. Even if the usage does not exceed the standard, it is impossible to achieve absolute uniformity during the flour mixing process, resulting in serious exceeding of the standard in some areas, which has obviously threatened the health of consumers, not to mention that there are incidents of exceeding the standard in small and medium-sized flour processing companies.

What are the hazards of flour whitening agents? "Diaobaikua": In recent years, some unscrupulous producers have added "Diaobaikua" to flour and other foods to whiten them, thus seriously endangering the health of consumers. "Diaobaikua" is not a food additive and is mainly used as a dyeing agent in the printing and dyeing industry. The chemical name of bleaching block is sodium formaldehyde sulfoxylate. It has extremely strong reducing properties at high temperatures, which gives it a bleaching effect. Its aqueous solution begins to decompose into harmful substances at above 60°C, and decomposes into toxic gases such as formaldehyde, carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide at below 120°C. It can cause headaches, fatigue, poor appetite, and in severe cases can even cause nasopharyngeal cancer.