It is well known that puffed foods such as potato chips have high fat content and are prone to obesity. However, little known is that these foods are frequently exposed to excessive lead.
Lead is a harmful element to human body. If it is too much to be taken in and discharged in time, it will have toxic and side effects on nervous system, cardiovascular system, skeletal system, reproductive system and immune system, bringing about symptoms such as osteoporosis, anemia, trance and memory decline. Children and pregnant women are particularly vulnerable. Lead poisoning leads to the decline of children's intelligence, learning ability, perception and comprehension ability, manifested by inattention, hyperactivity, impulsiveness, language learning disabilities, etc.
Why do puffed foods easily exceed the lead standard? Puffed food raw material itself does not contain lead or contains very little lead. Its excessive lead is mainly related to its processing technology. This kind of food needs to be processed through metal pipelines. Heavy metals contained in equipment or pipelines will be vaporized at high temperature, which will easily pollute food. In addition, if poor lead-containing ink is used in packaging bag printing, it is also easy to react with food, leading to lead leaching out of contaminated food. It should be pointed out that if enterprises strictly supervise and control industrial processes, their lead content can be controlled within the limits of national regulations, and everyone can be at ease to eat.
In addition, traditional preserved eggs are also prone to lead excess. The pickling process requires the addition of lead oxide in the feed liquid. The main function is to promote the feed liquid into the egg, so that the gel process of the protein is more complete, and the speed of changing the color of the egg is accelerated, so that the color and flavor of the preserved egg is better. It is gratifying to note that in recent years, many methods of making preserved eggs by replacing lead oxide with zinc oxide and other substances have emerged, which is called "lead-free preserved eggs technology". Generally speaking, the eggs made by traditional technology are prone to black spots on the eggshells. Preserved eggs made with lead-free technology are less likely to produce black spots. It is worth noting that the regular manufacturers seldom use the old technology to make preserved eggs. The self-produced and self-sold preserved eggs are difficult to be supervised, and may lead to excessive lead in preserved eggs due to poor mastery of lead-free technology or the use of old technology. Therefore, it is suggested that people buy preserved eggs in regular supermarkets and choose products clearly labeled "lead-free".
