Tag: Food And Drug Administration Fda

Chinese foods

One of the modern contribution of China is Chinese foods. The Peking Duck, the Beef in Black Bean sauce, the lobster with ginger, and host of other great Chinese food. Chinese foods and food products have become suspect as of late. We have seen the reports of seafood with high levels of antibiotics and hormones. We have read about the pet food with toxic and industrial ingredients. We have seen a TV report about a street food vendor who made pork dumplings with cardboard instead of pork. That TV report turned out to be a hoax. Maybe. You never know with state run media.

I love Chinese food and teas. Like many North Americans, I’ve become a little suspicious about Chinese food. Too many stories have come out about toothpastes with industrial and toxic ingredients. The Chinese exports have also included toys for children with high level of lead in the paint. Lead is something that has become a regulated substance in all products in the west.

Some people are can have a reaction to monosodium glutamate (MGS) ranging from headaches to chest pains. MGS is used extensively in Chinese foods. MGS is also extensively used in commercial cans of soup, noodles soups, granola bars and numerous food products. If you have concerns about having a reaction to MGS, consult with your doctor.

Foods and food products from China are pervasive and cheap. Chinese foods (Chinese cuisine) is also exotic and delicious. It has added greatly to the enjoyment of food and cooking. Chinese food is also becoming something of a concern.

Health Canada and the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have both been negligent in allowing foods from China to come in and fail their respective safety standards. The two countries have announced that they will be more vigilant and may even ban some foods and food products from China. Both countries however are loath to loose business with China, which is lucrative for all concerned.

As a consumer, you however can have a great influence. As your grocer where the foods come from. If they can’t give you a straight answer, pass on the product. Even if you will eventually buy the product, the retailers will begin to be more vigilant and informed.

Personally boycott some food products. Sea foods from China are highly suspect at this time for instance. Some people have even gone so far as to test foods and food products according to the standards set by FDA or Health Canada. You are a very important, even essential part of the market as the consumer. If you ask questions and make a point of passing up a product that you would normally like to buy, then that make a very loud statement.

We can make the foods we love safer for ourselves.

The facts about food colors

Color is an important aspect of our enjoyment of food. People “eat with their eyes” as well as their mouths. Imagine Thanksgiving dinner when the turkey has been slow roasted in the oven for hours so the juices slowly run off the meat and baste it to a deep golden color. Now, imagine Thanksgiving dinner when the turkey has been cooked in the microwave and the color is a creamy white like the mashed potatoes. What if the orange juice you drink in the morning wasn’t that bright, fresh orange color but was a dull, grayish orange instead.

The color of food helps us to determine its freshness. We know that fresh bananas are a nice pale yellow but over-ripe ones are brown and under-ripe ones are hard with a green peel. We take that information and store it in our memory to pull it out at a later date. If you were to be given a ripe, green banana you would probably hesitate to eat it because you would expect the taste to be different.

Because of this, we have found ways to add color to our foods to make them more palatable. Saffron and Tumeric are often used to provide a rich yellow color to foods. Blueberries and beets are also used for coloring food. Butter has been colored yellow as far back as the 1300’s.

Color variation in foods and the effects of food processing and storage often require that manufacturers add color to certain foods to meet consumer expectations of how the food should look. For example, some tree-ripened oranges are often sprayed with Citrus Red No.2 to correct the natural orangy-brown or mottled green color of their peels. Consumers expect to see a uniform orange color.

Today all food color additives are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to make sure foods are safe to eat. According to the FDA, a color additive is any dye, pigment or substance that

can impart color when added or applied to a food, drug, cosmetic or

to the human body. Certifiable color additives are manmade. Color additives that are exempt from certification include pigments from natural sources such as vegetables, minerals or animals.

There are nine certified colors approved for use in food in the

United States, and regulations limit the amount of color added to foods. In 1900, there were about 80 man-made color additives available

for use in foods. At that time there were no regulations regarding

the purity and uses of these dyes.

Food coloring is labeled FD&C. This stands for where the coloring may be used. Food, Drug and Cosmetic (FD&C) color additives can be used in foods, drugs or cosmetics.

FD&C Blue No.1 Bright blue

FD&C Blue No.2 Royal Blue

FD&C Green No.3 Sea Green

FD&C Red No.40 Orange-red

FD&C Red No.3 Cherry-red

FD&C Yellow No.5 Lemon Yellow

D&C Yellow No.6 Orange

When your food needs just a little boost, try adding food coloring to it. You can enhance the enjoyment your guests or family has by making it look more appetizing. If you are feeding smaller children, you can make the meal more fun by adding color to normally bland food. Try experimenting with different colors and combinations of colors. Make mealtimes fun.