Text/Food Review Team This National Day holiday, Haitian Flavor Industry is having a very uneasy life. Recently, Haitian Soy Sauce has become the target of public criticism due to problems such as "Hex Technology", "Technology and Fierce Life", and "Double Standards". What exactl

text/food review team

This National Day holiday, Haitian Flavor Industry is having a sluggish life.

Recently, Haitian Soy Sauce has become the target of public criticism due to problems such as "Hex Technology", "Technology and Fierce Life", and "Double Standards". What exactly happened?

is imprisoned by public opinion

In September this year, the "Breaking Bad" Xinjifei , who exaggerated and funny style, became popular on short video platforms. The term "Hex Technology" (original meaning is the science and technology in the game " League of Legends " series, and the up owner used to refer to synthetic food) also became popular. After Xin Jifei revealed the "mixed soy sauce", netizens focused their attention on Haitian soy sauce.

At the same time, foreign netizens began to show the ingredients list of Haitian soy sauce sold abroad, saying that Haitian soy sauce sold abroad does not contain additives, while the soy sauce sold domestically contains food additives such as 5’- nucleotide disodium , 5’- inosine disodium , sodium benzoate , and other food additives. In addition, the quality of soybeans is also different, and Haitian soy sauce has serious "double standards".

As we all know, sodium glutamate is MSG, inosine is to enhance soy sauce, sodium benzoate is a commonly used food preservative, while fructose syrup and sucralose are sweeteners. Netizens have labeled Haitian Soy Sauce as "Hex Technology".

In response to this, on the evening of September 30, Haitian Flavor Industry issued a statement saying that all products are produced strictly in accordance with the Food Safety Law and are subject to normal supervision and inspection by the state and food safety authorities at all levels at any time; the use of food additives and their labels in all products meet the requirements of relevant national standards and regulations; and stated that they will pursue malicious slander of the account of the Haitian brand.

This response not only did not calm netizens' doubts about Haitian Soy Sauce's "double standards" and "Hex Technology", but also pushed Haitian Flavor Industry to the forefront of public opinion again. Videos of "checking food ingredients lists" have appeared one after another. In addition, "Haitian Soy Sauce has been exposed to worms and maggots many times", "Haitian employees' inappropriate remarks" and other content have been once again promoted to the public's vision.

In response to the fierce discussion online, late at night on October 4, Haitian Flavor Industry issued another statement saying: Food additives are widely used in food manufacturing in various countries, and it is a misunderstanding to think that products with food additives are not good; Haitian also launched many delicious and inexpensive zero-additive products 10 years ago; the standards of each country are different, and products should strive to achieve personalization on the premise of complying with relevant laws and regulations. Haitian products always adhere to high-quality control. Most of the internal control standards of products are higher than or even far higher than national standards. Haitian's products of the same quality are the same domestic and international internal control standards. It responded to netizens' questions about the "double standards" of Haitian Soy Sauce.

But public opinion continues to ferment. On October 5, China Condiments Association issued the "Statement on Purifying the Market Environment and Guide the High-Quality Development of in the Seasoning Enterprises". The statement stated that the production, operation and export of food should comply with the corresponding laws, regulations and clauses, but due to different diet and consumption habits of each country, the standards for the same product will be different, but the standards themselves do not have a distinction between high and low; the management of food additives in my country is very strict, and after passing the inspection, the products are safe; support seasoning companies affected by this public opinion to protect their rights in accordance with the law.

That night, it was reported that Haitian Flavor Industry participated in drafting the current standards in the soy sauce industry, which was completely "athletes set standards for themselves." On the morning of the 6th, the topic #Haitian Flavor Industry participated in the drafting of the current standards for the soy sauce industry# became a hot search on Weibo. Some media pointed out that Foshan Haitian Condiments Food Co., Ltd. participated in the drafting of the current soy sauce industry standards and ranks as the leading body of the first leadership organization of the Soy Sauce Professional Committee. The

incident continues to ferment, allowing food safety, additives, food import and export, industry standards and other issues to top the list of major topics.

Is Haitian wrong?

As consumers' enthusiasm for supporting national enterprises gradually increases, the people are increasingly unable to tolerate the internal and external double standards and deception of enterprises, which is the main reason for the continuous fermentation of events.

Some netizens even said that Haitian’s statement on the double standard confusing right and wrong, generalizing with a tough attitude, and raising the contradiction between consumers and enterprises at the national and ethnic level; the so-called double standard does not mean that Chinese food is worse than foreign food, but that soy sauce sold to foreign countries is of higher quality than sold in China, but that Haitian wants to use "Chinese brands" and "Chinese enterprises" to respond to the question of double standard.

However, some netizens expressed their support for Haitian Flavor Industry, believing that the quality of Haitian soy sauce is not a problem. Haitian also has zero soy sauce in China, which is because everyone closes their eyes and does not have a double standard problem. In this public opinion war, Haitian Flavor Industry just lost in public relations. As for participating in drafting industry standards, it is not just the so-called "athletes set standards for themselves", but "the industry leaders understand the industry better and hope that the industry will be better."

Regarding the issue of food additives, Zhong Kai, director of Kexin Food and Nutrition Information Exchange Center and doctor of food safety, said that the two components of sodium benzoate and disodium inosine were originally present in food; the additives were approved for use after evaluation, and a large number of long-term factors have been considered, leaving a sufficient safety boundary, and there is almost no possibility of food problems.

Vice President of Guangdong Provincial Food Security Promotion Association Zhu Danpeng also said that it is meaningless to talk about additives without dosage, and it is not scientific. Chinese consumers prefer natural foods, but do not have much awareness of food additives. It can be said that they only have health awareness and no health knowledge; but in fact, the rapid development of China's food industry and foreign food industry are also inseparable from the scientific and reasonable use of food additives. Therefore, we must not "be afraid of talking about additives", but use additives within a safe range, which is beneficial to the human body and food safety.

For the different problems of additives, in addition to the China Condiments Association, China Food Industry Association also issued an announcement on October 6, explaining the problem of food additives to netizens from the aspects of the origin of soy sauce and the focus of this incident.

The statement also stated that the rapid iteration of the demand of the catering industry and consumers has accelerated the market segmentation and product innovation of the soy sauce industry. On the basis of complying with national unified standards, manufacturers can use food additives scientifically and rationally according to the characteristics and market needs of each subdivided product. This can not only meet the needs of various soy sauce flavors, but also improve product quality and food safety level. The occurrence of this incident has had a negative impact on the production and market of Chinese condiments. I deeply regret this and support condiments companies affected by public opinion to protect their rights in accordance with the law and hold online rumor-mongers accountable for legal responsibilities.

As a time-honored Chinese brand, Haitian Flavor Industry has produced more than 200 varieties of condiments of all sizes, among which the most well-known and praised is Haitian Soy Sauce. It is reported that in the first half of this year, Haitian Flavor Industry's soy sauce products revenue was 7.493 billion yuan, accounting for 59.05% of its operating income; Haitian Soy sauce's production and sales also ranked first in the country for 25 consecutive years. Haitian Soy Sauce can be regarded as Haitianjia's "pillar product".

This time, Haitian is deeply trapped in the whirlpool of public opinion. Industry insiders analyzed that the main reason is that in order to harvest traffic, some up owners have stigmatized the entire food industry and legal food additives, and often run the train to set the pace.

As a unique super-leading company in the domestic condiment industry, Haitian Flavor Industry has won the lawsuit on the surface, but has lost people's hearts.

Because of Haitian’s domineering response, most netizens instantly ignited the resistance. Haitian’s mistake is to get the point. The two statements are tough and opposite to the public’s doubts, so the more they describe, the more they are, the more they are, the counterproductive.If you put down your posture, sincerely respond to consumers' inner concerns, demonstrate the reliability and excellence of their product quality, and think about problems and respond from the perspective of consumers, I believe that many netizens will understand Haitian, and the positive voice will increase accordingly.

In short, people should eat first, and food should be safe first. The entire food industry should still cheer up and strive to ensure the safety and quality of food, live up to consumers' trust in their national food enterprises, develop better and better, and supervision will become more and more stringent. Otherwise, consumers will only choose with money.