Clipping Board » Illness Enters through Mouth ─ The information that has been made public is often just the tip of the iceberg...
Update Date: 2008/07/21 07:30 Reporter Peng Huiming, Taipei Report
Do you enjoy eating oden? You probably think it's all made from fish paste. Sorry, but due to manufacturers' cost considerations, Curdlan Gum, which was previously mostly used in vegetarian products, is now extensively used in fish paste products like oden, tempura, and fish balls, and its proportion is increasing.
Curdlan Gum is a food-grade additive approved by the Department of Health. Just one or two grams can produce a large quantity of goods, making it a cost-saving tool for businesses during economic downturns. Every autumn and winter, the oden sold hot at convenience stores and roadside stalls, and even the hot pot ingredients popular in supermarkets, contain a significant amount of Curdlan Gum products.
An anonymous OEM manufacturer pointed out that due to poor economic conditions, distributors are unwilling to raise prices. A piece of oden costs only a few dollars, and the price hasn't been adjusted for ten years. Now, fish paste is scarce, and "even if you have money, you might not be able to buy it." Therefore, the proportion of additives is actively increased without altering the taste.
Manufacturers indicate that Curdlan Gum is a carbohydrate derived from fungal fermentation. It is plastic when hot and becomes firm and crisp when cooled, enhancing the texture of food. It was most commonly used in vegetarian products in the past. It can be used to make vegetarian seafood, including sea cucumber, squid, cuttlefish, and fish fillets. Even the abalone served at banquets, cooked with iceberg lettuce, is mainly composed of Curdlan Gum, with abalone extract added. After coloring and seasoning, it becomes an almost indistinguishable imitation abalone. An average abalone costing a hundred dollars only costs about ten dollars to produce.
Xu Tingzhen, the head of Zhenyuan Food Chemical Raw Materials, the main domestic supplier, helplessly pointed out that in recent years, his clients have expanded to many food processing businesses. Especially with the sharp rise in the prices of various raw materials, fish paste is in short supply. Without using Curdlan Gum, "the price of fish balls would be so high that you wouldn't want to buy them."
Xu Tingzhen said that the amount of raw materials he shipped before 2002 was only ten tons per year domestically, but it has grown rapidly in recent years. It is estimated that about fifty to sixty tons will be used this year. He estimates that the output value of products containing Curdlan Gum exceeds thirty million yuan per year.
Xu Tingzhen emphasized that food additives are not entirely harmful to the human body. He said that if fish balls and tempura were produced using standard procedures, they might still affect the health of consumers due to the high sugar and oil content in the raw materials. However, additives like Curdlan Gum, similar to konjac or gelatin, provide a sense of satiety without containing excessive oil, so consumers should still be able to accept them.
Source: http://tw. news. yahoo. com/ article/ url/ d/ a/ 080721/ 2/ 13m14. html
Fish Paste or Carrageenan?
Do you enjoy eating oden? You probably think it's all made from fish paste. Sorry, but due to manufacturers' cost considerations, Curdlan Gum, which was previously mostly used in vegetarian products, is now extensively used in fish paste products like oden, tempura, and fish balls, and its proportion is increasing.
Curdlan Gum is a food-grade additive approved by the Department of Health. Just one or two grams can produce a large quantity of goods, making it a cost-saving tool for businesses during economic downturns. Every autumn and winter, the oden sold hot at convenience stores and roadside stalls, and even the hot pot ingredients popular in supermarkets, contain a significant amount of Curdlan Gum products.
An anonymous OEM manufacturer pointed out that due to poor economic conditions, distributors are unwilling to raise prices. A piece of oden costs only a few dollars, and the price hasn't been adjusted for ten years. Now, fish paste is scarce, and "even if you have money, you might not be able to buy it." Therefore, the proportion of additives is actively increased without altering the taste.
Manufacturers indicate that Curdlan Gum is a carbohydrate derived from fungal fermentation. It is plastic when hot and becomes firm and crisp when cooled, enhancing the texture of food. It was most commonly used in vegetarian products in the past. It can be used to make vegetarian seafood, including sea cucumber, squid, cuttlefish, and fish fillets. Even the abalone served at banquets, cooked with iceberg lettuce, is mainly composed of Curdlan Gum, with abalone extract added. After coloring and seasoning, it becomes an almost indistinguishable imitation abalone. An average abalone costing a hundred dollars only costs about ten dollars to produce.
Xu Tingzhen, the head of Zhenyuan Food Chemical Raw Materials, the main domestic supplier, helplessly pointed out that in recent years, his clients have expanded to many food processing businesses. Especially with the sharp rise in the prices of various raw materials, fish paste is in short supply. Without using Curdlan Gum, "the price of fish balls would be so high that you wouldn't want to buy them."
Xu Tingzhen said that the amount of raw materials he shipped before 2002 was only ten tons per year domestically, but it has grown rapidly in recent years. It is estimated that about fifty to sixty tons will be used this year. He estimates that the output value of products containing Curdlan Gum exceeds thirty million yuan per year.
Xu Tingzhen emphasized that food additives are not entirely harmful to the human body. He said that if fish balls and tempura were produced using standard procedures, they might still affect the health of consumers due to the high sugar and oil content in the raw materials. However, additives like Curdlan Gum, similar to konjac or gelatin, provide a sense of satiety without containing excessive oil, so consumers should still be able to accept them.
Source: http://tw. news. yahoo. com/ article/ url/ d/ a/ 080721/ 2/ 13m14. html