Ever wonder what old Chinese ladies do with all those soda cans they collect? Not to worry, nobody’s munching on pop cans, but a Friday Health News report revealed that over 30% of Chinese consume unsafe amounts of aluminum; a result of food producers adding more than the suggested amount of additives to certain foods to boost flavor. China Daily reports:
Chen [food safety researcher] said Thursday at an international food safety risk assessment symposium that aluminum-containing additives are the major cause of the problem, as many Chinese staple foods, such as noodles and steamed buns, are made with additives that contain aluminum.
Chen said northern Chinese, who tend eat noodles as a main dish for most meals, have an average aluminum intake of 5.1 mg per 1 kg of body weight, 2.6 times the amount recommended by the World Health Organization.
High aluminum intake is believed to be harmful to the central nervous system. It is known to have an effect on the development of children’s nervous systems, which can affect their mental development.
According to a survey released by Ministry of Health, 43% of Chinese children aged 4-6, consume 1.6 times the maximum daily aluminum intake recommended by the World Health Organization. Chen stated that cracking down on the use of aluminum-containing additives should solve the problem, but at this point, the scourge seems to have evolved into a tainted food hydra – you go after gutter oil, and aluminum in noodles and mercury-ridden baby formula rear their ugly heads.
And when your foods contain so many metals that you could crap out a Buick after eating dinner, it might be time to jump on the imported foodstuffs wagon.
