Please don't misunderstand carrageenan: edible gum is edible.

　　Please don't misunderstand carrageenan: edible gum is edible: people are not familiar with edible gum, so they often take it for granted that it is a product of chemical industry and instinctively reject it. Commonly used edible gums are actually "natur al products": agar and carrageenan are extracts of seaweed; Gelatin is made from animal skins or bones by hydrolysis. Pectin mainly comes from orange peel and the residue of apple juice. Gum Arabic, guar gum and locust bean gum are all extracted from the seeds of corresponding plants; Xanthan gum is obtained by microbial fermentation, similar to soy sauce, wine, vinegar, monosodium glutamate and so on. Edible gum is a large class of food raw materials, most of which are carbohydrates, whose molecular structure is very similar to that of starch, some of which are from protein, and the most common one is gelatin.

　　Different edible gums can improve the different properties of food. For example, many protein are insoluble under acidic conditions, and many people like the taste of acidic drinks. By adding proper pectin and connecting it with protein, it is possible to dissolve protein under acidic conditions, thus obtaining a clear and transparent acidic beverage. Adding proper amount of edible gum to noodles may also make noodles more gluten-free, which is also an improvement. Some edible gums are also used as dietary fiber, such as pectin, guar gum, agar and so on. Dietary fiber can provide satiety, but it does not produce calories, which is helpful to lose weight.

　　In fact, the use of edible gum is not the creation of modern food technology. The basic technology of traditional cooking "code" is to prevent the loss of wate r in meat by forming a thin layer of gel when starch is heated, so as to keep the meat fresh and tender. The "thickening" is to use the paste formed by starch to stick the seasoning to the ingredients that are not easy to taste. Foods such as beef soup and corn soup rely on starch to thicken their taste — — If it is not thickened, it will become clear soup. There are also many traditional snacks, which are also made of edible gum, such as bean jelly, ice powder, cauliflower, jelly and so on.

　　In addition to starch, other edible gums are managed as food additives. The safety of edible gum itself is very high, and there is generally no need to limit the dosage, so there is no problem of "excessive" and "excessive" use.