I have seen many parents giving jaggery to their loved ones saying that it’s healthy, but do you know what goes into chemically processed jaggery?
During my recent visit to a Jaggery factory in Mandya, I have learnt that they use 3 main chemicals in the making of Jaggery:
- Kesari Synthetic food colour - Enhances Visual appeal to attract consumers
- Sodium Hydro Sulphite - Bleaching agent, enhances & long lasts the colour, increases the shelf life.
- Decolite Gold chips also known as sodium formaldehyde sulfoxylate (SFS) - removes natural impurities on Sugarcane juice and makes jaggery visually appealing for consumers, boosts clarity and lighter shades.
As you can see, these chemicals are only used to adulterate the Jaggery to make it visually appealing to consumers. However they have a direct impact on our health that can damage villi in the stomach and intestines also factors to cause Diabetes & gastrointestinal Cancer.
There are many news articles reporting the harmful effects of using these chemicals on our health but consumers continue to buy this jaggery and factories continue to use them.
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/5-food-additives-you-should-avoid
