The pre-prepared food revolution: What kind of sparks will be created when technology meets the tip of your tongue?

Preface

In China today, pre-prepared meals and food additives have sparked widespread discussion and concern, and even panic! Many people have a natural aversion and resistance to pre-prepared meals and food additives, believing that they may be harmful to health. This article will objectively and impartially analyze pre-prepared meals and food additives from a scientific perspective in order to establish a rational and scientific view.

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In today's fast-paced society, pre-prepared meals are changing people's eating habits. However, along with this convenience comes widespread public concern about food additives. Many people instinctively believe that "additives" mean unhealthy and unnatural. However, if we temporarily put aside these preconceived notions and look at this issue with a more open mind, perhaps there will be new discoveries.

Pre-prepared meals are not a modern invention. In fact, their history can be traced back to ancient times. Methods of preserving food, such as pickling and air-drying, are essentially the earliest "preparation" technologies. Abroad, pre-prepared foods have become a part of life. For example, in Japan, rice balls and bento boxes in convenience stores are very popular; in the United States, frozen pizza and ready-to-eat salads are also commonplace.

So, are food additives as terrible as we imagine? In fact, many food additives are extracted from natural ingredients. For example, common citric acid is found in citrus fruits, while lecithin is widely found in egg yolks and soybeans. Most importantly, we need to deeply understand the principle of "dose determines toxicity". As the Swiss physician Paracelsus said: "All substances are poisons, there is nothing that is not poison. Only the size of the dose can determine whether a substance is toxic."

In a study published in Food Chemistry, scientists compared home-cooked and industrially produced foods and found that under properly controlled conditions, industrially produced foods were not inferior to home-cooked foods in terms of nutrient retention and food safety [1]. This shows that pre-prepared meals have the potential to ensure food quality.

Another review article published in Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety pointed out that some food additives can not only extend the shelf life but also enhance the nutritional value of food[2]. For example, adding vitamin C can not only extend the shelf life of food as an antioxidant, but also supplement the vitamins needed by the human body.

Of course, this doesn’t mean we should accept all pre-prepared meals and food additives without worry! A study published in the Journal of Food Science reminds us that excessive use of certain food additives may pose health risks [3]. Therefore, reasonable use and moderate intake should be the top priority.

Returning to the essence of food, we will realize that the purpose of both traditional cooking and modern food technology is to meet human nutritional needs and taste buds. As the product of technological development, pre-prepared meals and food additives have brought convenience to modern life, but at the same time, we also need to look at them with a rational and scientific attitude.

We will not blindly reject new things, nor should we accept technology and life in its entirety. Instead, we know how to learn to identify and understand food labels, understand the food production process, and then be a wise consumer. In this era of information explosion, it is more important to cultivate the ability to think and judge independently than to simply accept or reject.

Finally, let us maintain an open and rational attitude, find a balance between tradition and innovation, and enjoy the pleasure of food while not forgetting to pay attention to health. After all, eating is not just for filling your stomach, but also an art of life!

References:

[1] Zhang, L., et al. (2018). Comparison of the quality characteristics of fresh-cut fruits and vegetables as affected by conventional and industrial processing. Food Chemistry, 239, 23-29.

[2] Carocho, M., et al. (2014). Adding molecules to food, pros and cons: A review on synthetic and natural food additives. Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, 13(4), 377-399.

[3] Lau, K., et al. (2006). Synergistic interactions between commonly used food additives in a developmental neurotoxicity test. Toxicological Sciences, 90(1), 178-187.