Does canned food have a lot of preservatives added?

What is canned food? According to the definition of the National Standard for Food Safety Canned Food (GB7098-2015), canned food refers to the sterile canned food processed from fruits, vegetables, edible fungi, livestock and poultry meat, aquatic animals and other raw materials through pretreatment, canning, sealing, heating sterilization and other processes. It usually uses metal cans or glass bottles as packaging, through heating sterilization and sealing to prevent microbial growth and food oxidation, so as to achieve long-term preservation at room temperature. This kind of food is easy to carry and store, and can be eaten immediately, which is very convenient, and has attracted many consumers' attention in Shanghai Food Exhibition.

"Can't we eat more canned food with preservatives?" Such a statement seems to be often heard in life. But in fact, most cans do not add preservatives, only a small part of cans due to process or raw material restrictions, may add a small amount of preservatives. Such as the common canned fruit in life, according to the GB2760-2014 "Food Safety National Standard for the Use of Food Additives" provisions, canned fruit is not allowed to add any preservants, if the canned fruit is found to add preservants it is illegal.

And canned meat because the meat contains more kinds of microorganisms, including some anaerobic microorganisms, so the national standard allows the use of some additives, such as lactic acid streptococcus, sodium nitrite and potassium nitrite. However, as far as the production technology in our country is concerned, most factories can ensure the long-term preservation of canned meat under appropriate conditions only by relying on sterilization technology, so there is no need to add additional preservatives. In fact, most canned meat sold on the market does not contain preservatives. So, you don't have to worry too much about the safety of canned food.

Is canned food not nutritious?

Canned food is also often thought of as nutrient-free, but this is not the case. Canned products are pasteurized, and the sterilization temperature is generally about 120℃, while the sterilization temperature of vegetables and fruits is lower, generally 80-90℃. At this temperature, most of the nutrients in the can can be well retained, and the minerals in fruits and vegetables are not afraid of heating, and the content of potassium, calcium, and magnesium will not be reduced because of sterilization.

How to buy canned food?

When buying canned food, we must first see the ingredients list to see whether the ingredients list contains food additives that are unacceptable in themselves, such as soy sauce and coloring. According to national regulations, the use of additives in food must be clearly reflected in the ingredient list for consumers to choose. Second, look at whether the color of the can is natural. Edible coloring is allowed in some canned foods, but the amount and scope of use must be controlled within national standards. Third, look at whether the label content in the package is complete and clear. Generally speaking, the food can label produced by the regular manufacturer is complete and clear, marked with the name of the product, the name of the factory, the site of the factory, the contact information and the ingredients list, the net content, the solid content, the implementation of the standard code, the production date, the warranty period, the nutrition composition table and the food production license number.

In addition, when eating cans, you should also check whether the cans are damaged, and try to choose tea products with low sugar, low salt and low fat. After opening the can, please try to eat all at once, and do not eat twice, because the can without added preservatives is easy to break after opening and not eaten in time, especially when the temperature is high.

At the same time, it is not recommended to make canned food at home. The long-term preservation of canned food is based on good container sealing performance and thermal sterilization, to achieve commercial aseptic state; And home-made neither related equipment nor judgment ability, easy to cause food safety accidents.

If you would like to learn more about the food industry, please visit the SIAL Shanghai website for more information.

Source: Guangdong Science Popularization

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