The “Contained” Fruit Babies
Castle city supermarket had a huge sale going on, so Little Bear brought everyone to the supermarket immediately after school. Squirrel bought a couple of peaches, and Little Bear bought 3 cans of peaches. On the way home, Little Bear told Squirrel that buying fresh peaches was a bad idea, because they can easily go bad, he only had a few days to eat them.
Squirrel asked Little Bear, “Why is it that canned peaches can stay ‘fresh' much longer? Is it because some sort of chemical is added to prevent it from going bad? ”
“Let's go to search it up in the library, we can also finish our homework there and go home together.” Emily happily replied. So, the three friends skipped happily to the Castle City library together.
Half an hour later, Squirrel and Emily had already gone through a couple of books, and Little Bear finished a whole can of peaches. Emily said, “The books say that the cans are vacuum-packed, so there isn't any oxygen inside, bacteria cannot grow in such conditions and the peaches do not rot, and my science teacher also said something similar in class before.”
“Now I know why you cannot eat canned food when the can is bloated. When there is air in the can, then bacteria will multiply! ” Squirrel said with surprise.
Squirrel then wondered what the additive Sodium D-ascorbate is?
Emily found a book on food additives to answer the question. Sodium D-ascorbate is a Vitamin C stereoisomer, an important antioxidant in the food industry, and it can maintain the food's color, natural taste, extend its shelf life, all without any side effects.
Little Bear happily said, “See! Canned goods are not harmful at all! ”He opened another can to share with his friends.
Squirrel held up the book and said:“Look here, it says Sodium D-ascorbate is quite stable in dry air, but if it's in a solution exposed to air it will rapidly deteriorate, therefore we must finish the can as fast as possible.”
Emily saw that Dr. Micro was at the library too, so they all went over to say hello.
“It's great to see you, Dr. Micro! ” Emily said.
Dr. Micro was happy to see that everyone was at the library, “This is a great habit, to come to the library often! ”
“I bought canned goods, but they are all wondering why the food inside can be preserved for such a long time, they thought that there were harmful additives in it, so we came here to do some research. But we just found out that there was nothing harmful at all! ” Little Bear said to Dr. Micro with delight.
“So, what did you all learn from your research? ” Dr. Micro asked everyone.
Dr. Micro applauded everyone's eagerness to learn after Squirrel had explained their findings, then she explained to everyone that a standard can does not contain any preservatives.
Little Bear said again, “Look, canned goods are not harmful at all! They are nutritious and they are good for a long time.”
Dr. Micro continued to explain,“Although there are no additives in the cans, there are still off-grade factories who secretly adds preservatives, therefore remember to buy them from standardized factories, and check for their certificate. Also, why do you eat fruits? ”
Squirrel thought for a moment and said, “to supply our body with the necessary vitamins and nutrients.”
Dr. Micro replied, “Squirrel is absolutely correct, however, many of the vitamin and amino acid are destroyed during the production of canned fruits, so this greatly reduces the fruit's nutritional value.”
Dr. Micro picked up a can from the table, and pointed to the additive sodium cyclamate on the label and said, “Can you find out what exactly sodium cyclamate is under half an hour? ” Half an hour later, Emily was the first to tell everyone of her findings, “Sodium cyclamate is a type of sweet additive, it is 30 to 40 times sweeter than sucrose! ” said Emily.
Squirrel nodded and added to Emily's findings, “over consumption of sodium cyclamate can cause harm to human's liver and nervous system. Seriously, kids and pregnant women are especially prone to its harms.”
“I will never eat canned fruits again! ” Little Bear said with surprise.
Squirrel patted Little Bear on the back and said, “It's okay, just eat less from now on and buy fresh fruits like me! ”
The sun started to set, and the last ray of sunlight shined on the table, it is time for everyone to say goodbye. The kids waved goodbye to Dr. Micro after a fruitful day of new discoveries.
[Dr. Micro's notes and tips]
1. The fruit canning process destroys the fruit's natural amino acids and vitamins.
2. Even though canned foods can be delicious, it can be harmful to children and elders.
3. Certain factories do not abide to production regulations by adding preservatives, and they may also add food coloring and other types of additives.
4. Precautions when purchasing canned food：
a. Please select factory that produced standardized cans.
b. Make sure that the packing is in place and undamaged.