What harm can long-term consumption of substandard soy products cause?

The government health bureau recently conducted spot checks on Qingming festival foods sold on the market. Of 33 items, 5 were substandard. Among them, 4 soy products were found to contain residual hydrogen peroxide, and 1 peanut powder was found to contain aflatoxin exceeding the limit. The substandard rate was 15.2%. The health bureau stated that if the investigation is confirmed, manufacturers will be fined 30,000 to 150,000 yuan in accordance with Article 12 and Article 10 of the Food Sanitation Management Act, and the non-compliant products should be recalled for correction or destroyed.

In early March, the Taipei City Health Bureau went to traditional markets, vegetarian shops and runbing wrapper specialty stores and other locations to conduct sampling inspections. For runbing wrappers, dried tofu/tofu strips, bean sprouts, peanut products and others, the test items were preservatives, hydrogen peroxide, bleaching agents, formaldehyde and aflatoxin. The sampling results showed that dried tofu/tofu strips had the highest substandard rate at 50% (4 out of 8 items). Among them, 3 items were found to contain hydrogen peroxide, 1 item violated regulations due to a combination of preservative and hydrogen peroxide, and another 1 item of peanut powder contained aflatoxin.

Many unscrupulous operators add hydrogen peroxide to bean and peanut products to give the foods a bleaching and preservative effect, and even add the preservative benzoic acid. Eating too much may cause symptoms such as headaches and vomiting. In addition, hydrogen peroxide has strong oxidizing power and may cause corrosive damage to the skin, eyes and gastrointestinal tract, and also place a burden on the liver and kidneys. Lin Jinfu, director of the Taipei City Department of Health's Food and Drug Division, reminded the public that when purchasing soy products and runbing wrappers, they should avoid choosing products that are too white, too crisp, or claimed by operators to be storable at room temperature for a long time. Before eating, they should also be washed and cooked thoroughly, and by opening the pot lid and boiling water, hydrogen peroxide can be volatilized with steam. This reduces the chance of "toxins" entering the mouth.