There are often "so-and-so food can not be eaten, the original is added glue!" In life, we often hear the reminder of "' glue steak 'do not eat, eating is not good for your health". Therefore, many people began to wonder: Can this food with "glue" be eaten in the end? In fact, the "glue" in food is "edible glue", which is a large class of food raw materials, most of which are carbohydrates, molecular structure similar to starch, and some are proteins, the most common is gelatin. Because people are not familiar with food glue, it is easy to take it for granted that it is a chemical industry product like the glue used to stick things and instinctively reject it.

Common food gels are actually natural products: AGAR and carrageenan are extracts of seaweed (' glue steak 'is a combination of carrageenan and ground beef); Gelatin is made by hydrolysis from animal skin or bones; Pectin mainly comes from the residue of orange peel and apple juice. Acacia gum, guar gum and locust bean gum are all extracted from the seeds of the corresponding plants. Xanthan gum is obtained by microbial fermentation, similar to soy sauce, wine, vinegar, MSG, etc.

The biggest role of edible glue is to improve the different properties of food. For example, many proteins do not dissolve in acidic conditions, and many people like the taste of acidic drinks. By adding appropriate pectin, the protein can be dissolved under acidic conditions, thus obtaining a clear and transparent acidic drink. Adding the right amount of edible glue to the noodles can make them more sturdy and chewy. There are also some edible gum itself can be used as dietary fiber, such as pectin, guar gum, AGAR and so on. Dietary fiber can provide satiety, but does not produce calories, which is helpful for weight loss.

It is important to know that the use of edible glue is not the creation of modern food technology, but also the basic technology of traditional cooking. For example, "thicken" is to use the paste formed by starch to stick the seasoning on the ingredients that are not easy to taste. Dishes such as beef soup and corn soup rely on starch to thicken and get a smooth texture. Traditional snacks such as cold powder, ice powder and skin jelly are also made with edible glue.

In short, the safety of food glue itself is very high, and food additives are different, it does not need to limit the amount, so you can eat with confidence.