Original title: Taotie China | The History of Food Additives In our lives, food additives can be said to be everywhere. We can see it every day, such as the ramen agent fen hui in ramen, the coagulant carrageenan in ice cream, the food coloring synthesized from vegetables and fruits in candies, the additive citric acid in various carbonated drinks, and the agar-agar in cans. Preservatives and stabilizers, etc. For another example, China already used invertase to make wine during the Dawenkou period. In the Qin and Han Dynasties, people discovered salt brine and began to use it to make tofu. Later, the Chinese discovered many food additives such as cinnamon, alum, nitrite, etc. In foreign countries, especially in the Mediterranean region, ancient Egypt began to pickle salted fish with salt as early as 3000 BC. In the ancient Greek and Roman times more than 2000 years ago, brine was used to pickle olives and cheese, and frankincense and cinnamon were used to make wine. of additives. Don’t underestimate food additives. It is their appearance that makes our diet more diverse and more mouth-watering. Everything Starts with Salt We all know that without salt intake, people feel weak and unable to live. Therefore, salt has become an indispensable seasoning for us every day. Salt must be used in almost all kinds of stir-fries, dishes, and Western food. But we may not know that the salt we often eat was actually an additive in the first place. For us humans today, we must consume no less than 6 grams of salt every day to live. In fact, the same was true for the ancients. But in the distant ancient times, people lived by hunting and gathering, and there was often salt in the prey, so they did not need to add special salt like we do today. However, people began to consciously grow crops 10,000 years ago. Salt began to disappear from people's diets because crops could not provide salt to humans. But it won’t work without salt. There is no way, people can only find salt from other places. People discovered that both saltwater lakes and seawater are salty, so people chose to extract salt from the water. Later, three methods were developed: extracting salt from seawater, extracting well salt by boiling, and extracting salt from minerals. The extraction of salt is a dietary revolution in human history, allowing people to enjoy this necessity anytime and anywhere. After successfully extracting salt, people no longer need to limit themselves to salty foods. Even if the food does not contain salt, they can just put a few grains of salt in it and serve it. Because of this particularity of salt, salt production has been controlled by the state from ancient times to the present. By the time of China's feudal dynasty, salt, like other things, was divided into three, six or nine grades. The good ones were owned by the emperor and the nobles, and the inferior ones were given to the common people. Among them, the tiger-shaped salt among the salts was promoted as a sacrifice to heaven and used in special ceremonies. In 1046, the Northern Song Dynasty court even asked questions about tiger-shaped salt in the imperial examination. Tiger salt: a crystalline salt that looks like a tiger. In the past, because there were no refrigerators and no preservatives, food had to be eaten immediately. But over time, people discovered that adding a lot of salt to food can actually keep the food from spoiling for a long time. For example, the pickles and bacon we often eat in modern times are thanks to salt, which allows them to be stored for a very long time. But here comes the problem. Salt embedded in food for too long will produce nitrite. Excessive intake of nitrite can cause various diseases. But if nitrite is used correctly, it is also a good food additive. Nitrite, sausages and pickles Nitrite probably appeared in China during the Northern Song Dynasty. It was initially mainly used for curing bacon, making ham, etc. Its characteristic is that it can preserve meat products for a long time without deterioration. Moreover, meat products with added nitrites not only have an attractive color, but are also much safer. This is because a poisonous bacterium called "Clostridium botulinum" can easily grow in meat products, and the toxin it secretes is the most toxic substance known so far! Even today, once a patient with Clostridium botulinum toxin poisoning Failure to seek medical attention in time may result in death. Under ancient medical conditions, the consequences of poisoning could be imagined. Meat products with added nitrite will not grow this bacteria.

Therefore, to the ancients, nitrite was a very good thing! In addition, our ancestors often said that "winter curing is pickled in the wind to protect it from the winter", so we can eat delicious Jinhua ham, sausages, etc. today thanks to his gift. Later, nitrite The production technology was spread to Europe in the 13th century, and it also revitalized an endangered industry. This industry is actually the sausage industry. In Europe, sausage is the most important food besides bread, and it is indispensable in almost every meal. There is. But the problem is that sausages are easy to spoil, and they must be eaten quickly every time they are made. There is a famous saying in Germany in the Middle Ages, called "Sausage should not hear the church bell at noon." This means that the sausage should be preserved. The period is only half a day. In order to prevent spoilage, people often eat sausages as breakfast in the morning and will not eat them at noon or even in the afternoon. Since then, most meat products in Europe contain sausages. Nitrite. The first function is to eliminate bacteria and resist oxidation. The second function is to increase the flavor. The emergence of nitrite is a great savior for the sausage industry. Famous European sausages such as Frankfurt sausages and Thuringian sausages all use nitrite. Although eating too much nitrite can cause poisoning, the EU has also set strict content standards. However, nothing can stop the mouths and stomachs of foodies. In their eyes, nitrite is no longer a problem. Sausage is like having no soul. In addition, pickles are also a big user of nitrite. The Chinese pickles and Korean pickles we often talk about are the best in terms of nitrite content within the first 2 days of pickling. It's not high, but the nitrite content reaches its peak on the 3rd to 8th day, starts to decrease after the 9th day, and basically disappears after 20 days. Therefore, the pickling time of pickles and kimchi is generally within 2 days, and the longest time. It should be marinated for one month before it can be eaten. The history of pickled vegetables in China can be traced back to at least the Shang and Zhou dynasties. In many ancient pre-Qin books, we can see records of eating kimchi. In fact, it is the earliest pickle. That is, vegetables that have been fermented for long-term storage. Later, people invented the word "齑", which specifically refers to those chopped pickled vegetables to distinguish them from another kind of pickled vegetables - kimchi. Especially In the feudal era, the people had very little food to eat. Pickles were not only high-quality and cheap, but also had a long shelf life, so they became the people's favorite food. As a result, the production of pickles began to flourish during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. With the systematic and standardized evolution, there are brand-name stores such as Tianyuan Pickles, Liubiju Pickles, Huaimao Pickles, and Yutang Pickles. Stores selling their pickles are as famous as Chinese pickles all over the country. Even slightly better, we have to talk about Korean kimchi. In fact, Korean kimchi also comes from China. It originated from China's Sichuan kimchi. When the soldiers of the Sui and Tang Dynasties went to Korea, some soldiers came from Sichuan. The skill of kimchi was brought to Korea. After kimchi was introduced to South Korea, because of its relatively poor products, it was not possible to pickle vegetables and fruits like the Chinese. Instead, it focused on Chinese cabbage and some local specialties such as fish. Shrimp and other seafood. However, although seafood makes kimchi taste more delicious, it still tastes fishy. After the 17th century, chili peppers were introduced to Korea, and Koreans added chili peppers to kimchi, solving this problem in one fell swoop and further reducing the nitrite content in the finished product. Today, Korean kimchi brands such as Zongjiafu, Rich Dad, and Jiuriweizu have been adhering to this production method, and Korean kimchi has also become famous in one fell swoop. Fish Sauce I mentioned Korean kimchi earlier. When making it, some fish and shrimp are often added to enhance the flavor. But fish and shrimp will also become smelly if stored for too long. For this reason, people invented another food additive-fish sauce. Fish sauce is a very delicious juice obtained by pickling, fermenting and boiling small fish and shrimp. It is amber in color and has a salty and umami taste. The Japanese consider fish sauce to be the most delicious seasoning surpassing soy sauce and recommend it to the world. So much so that people in many places today believe that fish sauce is a Japanese invention. In fact, fish sauce had been invented by the Romans as early as BC.

This method continues to this day. In fact, in addition to these common food additives, we can often see artificial additives such as food coloring, sage, thyme, lime, cloves, margarine, and various chemical agents, to name a few. . In short, the history of food additives is becoming more and more colorful, but food additives are also changing from a history of discovery to a history of invention. Today, there are about 2,000 food additives allowed in various countries. And every day, new food additives join the ranks. It is they who, while changing our tastes, also change our lives.