CRI听力: Flour Bleaching Agent

As we know, freshly-milled flour is usually yellowish, and the food additive flour bleaching agent can make it appear whiter. However, will it bring harm to people who have meals with the additives everyday? Should it be prohibited during the flour processing? The Ministry of Health is soliciting public opinions if the flour bleaching agent should be prohibited.

Zhang Wan has more.



Do you know what flour bleaching agent is? Most customers in a supermarket say they have no idea.

"Consumers are not from the quality supervision administration, we have no idea about it. What we can do is to depend on the quality supervision administration to check on it."

"If the product marks flour bleaching agent free, I believe it won't contain the additive. But for products without the mark, I think they probably include flour bleaching agents."

Flour bleaching agent is a food additive added to flour to make it appear whiter and help with developing gluten.

According to the Ministry of Health, flour bleaching agent including benzoyl peroxide and Calcium peroxide is expected to be prohibited in flour processing starting from December 1, 2011. But the flour processed with the additive before this date can be sold on the market before its expiration date.

Why does it take 12 months to carry out the plan, authorities say it's due to the consideration on minimizing the negative impact on the industry.

With the development of processing technique, the Ministry of Health says, flour bleaching agent is no longer a must-have additive in processing, the new technique can make flour remain in its natural white color. So many flour manufacturers have stopped using it.

Nowadays customers wish flour remains its natural color and flavor and minimize chemical substances in daily meals, as they care more about being natural and healthy.

However, does the flour bleaching agent harm people's health?

There is no certain standard in terms of using flour bleaching agent. In some countries such as the United States, Canada and Japan, the additive is allowed during the flour processing. But in European countries, it's prohibited. In China, whether the additive should be used is a controversial topic for decades.

People who insist it should be additive-free say it will damage nutrition in flour and harm people's livers. Although it whitens flour, it won't enhance the quality. Furthermore, the additive is no longer necessary under current processing techniques.
 
However, some say the flour bleaching agent should be used, as long as the amount of the additive meets national standards. It won't risk people's health.
 
For CRI, I am Zhang Wan.