E 536 food additive harm. Potassium ferrocyanide (E536)

19.02.2021

The article describes a food additive (anti-caking agent and anti-caking agent) potassium ferrocyanide (E536, potassium hexacyanoferrate, yellow blood salt), its use, effect on the body, harm and benefit, composition, consumer reviews

Functions performed

anti-caking and anti-caking agent

Legality of use

Ukraine

The EU

Russia

What is food supplement E536 - potassium ferrocyanide?

Potassium ferrocyanide (food supplement E536, yellow blood salt) is a complex inorganic compound containing a complex ion. It is often used as a crystalline hydrate. Additive E536, also called potassium hexacyanoferrate, is yellow and soluble in water. Potassium ferrocyanide is used as a dye in the textile industry, as an inhibitor in some metallurgical processes.

In Russia, Ukraine, many European countries, potassium ferrocyanide is used to prevent clumping of food products during storage. Often the additive E536 is referred to as an emulsifier, meaning its ability to ensure the uniformity of food systems. In fact, emulsions are a mixture of liquids, and ferrocyanides are added to solid foods, such as various types of table salt.

In nature, yellow blood salt is not found. E536 additive is obtained from waste generated during gas cleaning in production facilities. Cyanide compounds are treated first with slaked lime, then with chloride and potassium carbonate - non-toxic substances that are easily separated from the final product.

Potassium ferrocyanide, E536 - effect on the body, harm or benefit?

The use of potassium ferrocyanide additive E536 causes active discussions among buyers. Many are intimidated by the part of the word "cyanide" in the name of the supplement. Everyone knows that potassium cyanide is the strongest poison. Potassium ferrocyanide is a stable compound, since the complex ion is not degraded in the human body. In laboratories, potassium hexacyanoferrate can only be degraded when heated to 650 ° C. Customers need not be afraid of the formation of potassium cyanide. Potassium ions, which can be formed in the digestive tract, are always needed by a person. The rest of the complex part of this substance is excreted unchanged.

The toxicity of the food additive E536 is possible only in the case of a disdain for compliance with the technology of its production, the presence of impurities of accompanying components. The manufacturing process for all nutritional supplements must be strictly controlled. In Ukraine, the maximum content of potassium ferrocyanide is allowed in the amount of 10 mg per kilogram of the product. In Russia, a concentration of 20 mg is allowed in each kilogram of the product.

Food Additive Potassium Ferrocyanide - Food Applications

E536 additive is used primarily to improve the quality of table salt. Common table salt, which does not contain potassium hexacyanoferrate, has a gray appearance; during storage it forms large lumps, sometimes representing a monolithic stone that can only be crushed with a hammer. Some enterprising food technologists use potassium ferrocyanide in winemaking, in the manufacture of sausages, and some types of cheeses.

Once upon a time at industrial enterprises, cyanide compounds were obtained in a very exotic way. In cast iron boilers, iron shavings were fused with potassium carbonate and nitrogen-containing animal waste (horns, hooves, skin trimmings, dry blood). Crystals formed from the solidified melt were yellow. For this substance is called yellow blood salt.

The product is registered under European number E 536 (E-536).

The main name of the supplement is Potassium Ferrocyanide.

Synonyms:

ferruginous potassium (GOST 6816–79, as amended in 2016);
potassium hexacyanoferrate (II) trihydrate;
potassium hexacyanoferrate;
yellow blood salt (abbreviation for FSW);
Kaliumferrocyanid, German;
ferrocyanide de potassium, French.

Substance type

Additive E 536 is categorized. The main technological function of the product is to prevent caking and clumping of bulk solids.

It is a potassium salt of ferruginous acid.

On an industrial scale, the additive is obtained by treating a mixture of cyanides and and sodium (so-called cyanide) with a solution of ferrous sulfate. In this case, cyanides are transferred to. They are processed into pure salts by exchange decomposition with and.

Properties

Index	Standard values
Colour	amber yellow
Compound	potassium ferrocyanide, empirical formula K 4 Fe (CN) 6 3H 2 O
Appearance	crystals
Smell	missing
Solubility	good in water; insoluble in alcohol, ether
Main substance content	not less than 99%
Taste	bitter salty
Density	1.85 g / cm 3
Other	the solution is neutral; does not decompose in air at normal temperature and humidity

Package

Manufacturing companies for packaging additive E 536 use:

four- and five-layer kraft bags with a polyethylene liner with a thickness of at least 0.080 mm;
six-layer laminated bags;
polypropylene bags with polyethylene insert;
carton-wound drums with metal lids.

Application

Potassium ferrocyanide is used mainly:

in the production of blue printing inks (gives a special bronze shine);
for stable dyeing of silk fabrics;
as part of inhibiting coatings;
for the isolation and subsequent disposal of radioactive waste;
in the production of colored paper.

Additive E 536 is allowed in the food industry not more than 20 mg / kg.

In practice, the amount does not exceed 10 mg.

Its scope is limited to several industries:

table salt production: potassium ferrocyanide is added to bleach and prevent clumping of the product. Most often it can be found in the highest grade of fine grinding;
the stabilizer is capable of binding heavy metal cations. The property has found application in winemaking: the additive is used to treat wine materials to remove a metallic taste from the product;
dairy production: the additive is included in the composition of some types of cottage cheese to give the product friability;
in the production of cooked and smoked sausages as an anti-caking component.

In recent years, it has become fashionable to add potassium ferrocyanide to rye and yeast-free bread. Belarusian producers are especially different in this regard: most varieties contain "anti-caking additive E 536", as indicated on the package. However, bakers from Belarus are simply more honest than their colleagues from other republics: potassium ferrocyanide is not included in flour, but in salt, so not all bakeries designate the additive E 536 in their products.

The stabilizer is officially approved in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, EU countries, USA.

Looking for a safe thickener? Pay attention to the food supplement gellan gum. We talked about it in detail in.

Benefit and harm

The additive E 536 does not represent nutritional and biological value.

Potassium ferrocyanide itself is non-toxic. Its only drawback is its laxative effect.

When a substance interacts with water (and this is required by food production technology), harmful gases are formed, but they quickly evaporate.

The danger is fraught with the compound of potassium ferrocyanide with acids, including gastric acids: the product decomposes with the formation of dangerous hydrocyanic acid. The reaction occurs especially quickly when the substance is heated to 50ºC.

At the same time, there is no scientifically substantiated data on how potassium hexacyanoferrate manifests itself in food products subjected to frying or other heat treatment.

For this reason, it is impossible to talk about harm or complete safety for the consumer of bread (sausage, cottage cheese) containing the additive E 536.

Main manufacturers

A large domestic producer of E 536 additive is the Ural Plant of Industrial Chemistry (Sverdlovsk Region).

Leading foreign suppliers:

FOODCHEM (China);
Biochem (France).

The main question that torments consumers: is it possible to get poisoned by the E 536 additive? Theoretically, it is possible, but for this you need to eat about 28 kg of salt at one time. There is even less potassium ferrocyanide in bread.

If you do not want to see foods fortified with yellow blood salt on your table, you will have to carefully study the label. Conscientious manufacturers honestly prescribe the E 536 code in the composition. Some go further and additionally indicate the name of the additive - ferrocyanide potassium (not everyone understands, and therefore less frightening than potassium ferrocyanide).

Unscrupulous manufacturers humbly mention the presence of an unnamed "anti-caking agent" or boastfully report: "Our salt does not clump."

In modern production, various additives are increasingly used, which allow not only to store products for a long time, but to give them an attractive appearance, improve taste and aroma. The complete list of nutritional supplements consists of several hundred names. Most of them are harmful to the human body, and some are very dangerous. In this article, we will try to disassemble the pros and cons of the most common food additive E 536.

What is it made of?

Many people wonder what kind of additive E 536 is. It has a unique quality, for which the food industry recognized it as the best emulsifier, clarifier.

But at the same time, potassium ferrocyanide is quite dangerous, in some countries it cannot be used for food production. In our country, this is not prohibited, it is often added to ordinary table salt so that lumps do not form in it, it has a marketable appearance. In addition, the additive is actively used in various technologies as a clarifier.

Where did the food additive E 536 come from? In ancient times, cyanide compounds were obtained at industrial enterprises using very exotic methods. In cast iron boilers, iron shavings were fused with potassium carbonate and nitrogen-containing animal waste (such as horns, hooves, skin scraps, dry blood). The crystals that formed from the solidified alloy had a yellow color. For this substance was given the name yellow blood salt.

Today, on an industrial scale, the additive is obtained by treating a mixture of cyanides and sodium and calcium chlorides with a solution of ferrous sulfate. As a result, cyanides are converted into ferrocyanides. Pure salts are obtained from them by exchange decomposition with sodium and potassium carbonates.

Additive description

Food additive E 536 looks like crystals or crystalline powder of pale yellow color. It has the following properties:

soluble in water;
there is no smell;
does not dissolve in ethyl alcohol, aniline, ether, ethyl acetate and pyridine;
has a bitter-salty taste;
is extracted chemically;
can turn into anhydrous salt when the temperature rises to 87.3 ° C degrees;
decomposes at 650 ° C.

In the food industry, potassium ferrocyanide is used in production for the flowability of the product, and it also well prevents sticking, clumping and caking of the mixture.

Food additive E 536 harmful or not, we will consider below.

Where is it used?

It is used in several industries:

In the production of table salt. The main purpose of its application is to whiten and prevent clumping of the product. In its pure form, salt has a gray color, which gives it an ugly presentation. And many buyers think the salt is dirty. And when using E536, the product turns white and is in great demand. Most often, an additive is found in the composition of a finely ground salt grade.
E536 is capable of binding heavy metal cations. This property has become often used in winemaking for the treatment of wine materials in order to remove a metallic taste from the product.
In the dairy industry, a stabilizer is added in the production of curd products to give them friability.
In the production of raw smoked sausages, it is used as an anti-caking component.

In recent years, the food additive has been added to rye flour bread.

Possible pros and cons

There is no benefit from the use of food additive E 536.

The stabilizer is low-toxic, but at the moment of interaction with an aqueous solution, a chemical reaction occurs, as a result of which poisonous gases are released in a small amount. The component can be used in the food industry up to 20 mg per 1 kg of salt. Most often, its volume does not exceed 10 mg. But even with such a small use of it and a possible violation of technological production standards, the additive can affect human health. It can also have a laxative effect. Before using the food additive E 536, it is imperative to evaluate.

Potassium ferrocyanide can be found in some types of cheese, it acts as an emulsifier, reliably connecting heterogeneous media. It is thanks to this that the cheese product retains its shape well and has a pleasant color. And since this product is often included in the main diet of children, pregnant and lactating women, the presence of an additive in the product can provoke an irreversible process in the body. It is easy to identify a stabilizer in a product. You should pay attention to the white bloom on the product, if it is present, it is better not to buy such cheese.

Is E536 dangerous?

There are a number of problems that arise due to the use of the E536 stabilizer:

severe poisoning of the body as a whole;
the functioning of the lymphatic system is disrupted;
damage to the nervous system;
skin problems such as dermatitis, acne, purulent inflammation appear;
the work of the liver and gallbladder is disrupted;
the digestive tract is disrupted.

When the additive enters the stomach, it comes into contact with the acid, resulting in the release of dangerous hydrocyanic acid and toxic gases.

The pros and cons of E536 supplements are being actively researched in different countries by scientists from several fields. This is necessary in order to determine the safe scope of its use. Many countries do not add it to the list of allowed. Theoretically, you can poison yourself with the additive, but for this you need to eat about 28 kg of salt at a time. There is very little potassium ferrocyanide in store bread. If you do not want to use products that contain E536, then carefully study the label. Responsible manufacturers honestly write the composition, there are cases when the full name of the stabilizer is also indicated. Unscrupulous ones will indicate the presence of an anti-caking substance or simply report that their salt does not clump.

conclusions

It is worth thinking about the use of products that contain potassium ferrocyanide. After all, no one gives us a complete guarantee of no harm to the body, and these products are used by both small children and adults. This gradually leads to the accumulation of toxins in the cells of our body, which are not so easy to get rid of in the future. And when diseases appear, even specialists find it difficult to establish the true cause of the disease. Therefore, you should make a choice in favor of a healthy and natural diet.

Anti-caking agents(anti-caking agents) are used to improve the flowability of powdered food products and chemical raw materials. During industrial processing, a number of factors, such as humidity, pressure and temperature, can cause lumps, lumps and equipment to clog, adversely affecting the quality and shelf life of the final product. Specially formulated free flowing anti-caking agents eliminate these problems and ensure quality throughout the shelf life of the product.
They are widely used for the production and storage of dry bulk products: instant non-alcoholic drinks, coffee, 3-in-1 coffee, cocoa, hot chocolate; milk, cream, dry flavorings and others.
The use of anti-tracking agents helps to solve several issues:
ensures uniform feeding and correct dosage during production
prevents caking during storage
helps to keep the presentation
increases the shelf life of the product

E-535 - sodium ferrocyanide.

Anti-caking agent, clarifier. Yellow crystals or crystalline powder.
Potential harm to food emulsifier E535 Sodium ferrocyanide was not taken seriously and only limited the level of consumption and the content of the dangerous compound in food. It was believed that daily a person could trumpet no more than 25 mg / kg of food emulsifier E535 Sodium Ferrocyanide in food as part of food products. However, as a result of the latest scientific research, it was found that the harm of the food emulsifier E535 Sodium ferrocyanide can result in significant health and wellness problems for the human body.

Food emulsifier E535 Sodium ferrocyanide can have a negative effect on human health, since the chemical composition of the compound contains poisonous and highly toxic substances. It should be noted that currently food emulsifier E535 Sodium ferrocyanide is still used by food manufacturers in the EU countries. On the territory of the Russian Federation, the use of the food emulsifier E535 Sodium ferrocyanide in the production processes of the food industry is strictly prohibited by legislative acts.

E536 - Potassium ferrocyanide.
Nowadays, it is obtained in production from waste mass containing cyanide compounds, after gas purification in gas plants.

The substance itself - potassium ferrocyanide - is very slightly toxic, but when it interacts with water, poisonous gases are released during the reaction. But their quantity, as a rule, does not pose a serious health hazard. When hexacyanoferrate interacts with some acids, a large amount of highly toxic hydrogen cyanide gas can be released.

In the food industry, it is used mainly to prevent clumping and caking, as an additive to table salt. It is also used in the production of sausages, which is always immediately indicated by a white coating on the casing of the product.
So far, there is no data on the results of biotests, on the nature of the behavior of the food additive E536 with various methods of processing the substance (frying, cooking, etc.). And although in food it is usually used in small doses and only in a mixture with table salt, if the technology is violated and the permissible norm in the product is exceeded, hexacyanoferrate can pose a serious threat to human health.

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Potassium ferrocyanide (formula - E536) is a rather dangerous chemical additive that is prohibited to use in the manufacture of various products in some countries. In our country, there is no such prohibition, and E536 is actively added to an ordinary dining room to perform an anti-caking action (preventing the formation of salt lumpiness). Also, this additive is actively used in various technologies as a clarifier.

There are also the following names of this additive, which are used by manufacturers in indicating the composition of their products: potassium hexacyanoferriate, hexacyanoferrate II, potassium trihydrate, GST, ferrocyanogenous potassium, yellow blood salt, potassium hexacyanoferrate, Kaliumferrocyanid (from German), ferrocyanidedepotassium (from French). The component belongs to the group of food additives, in the form of an anti-caking agent, an emulsifier and a clarifier.

Untreated natural salt has a grayish tint (yes, it looks dirty and ugly at first glance). In the process of adding E536, the salt acquires a white and pure shade, therefore, it acquires a more attractive and aesthetic appearance for the consumer, which plays into the hands of manufacturers, since the appearance of the product as a result allows to significantly increase the price of a product so popular among consumers.

Some rather enterprising manufacturers add the E536 additive as an emulsifier in winemaking, in the production of sausages. Potassium ferrocyanide is also added during the production of some types of cheese. In cheese, this food additive acts as an emulsifier and gives uniform color to this dairy product.

An additive is also added to inexpensive varieties in order to improve its color and give a crumbly consistency to the product (an indicator of the presence of E536 in cottage cheese is the same crumbly cheese grains).

The presence of potassium ferrocyanide in cheese is harmful to the human body and you can get a lot of side effects that will be as difficult to eliminate as possible. It should be borne in mind that hard cheeses are included in the diet of young children, pregnant women, women during lactation, in postoperative diets, in the diet of the elderly, and the presence of potassium ferrocyanide in this dairy product can trigger irreversible processes in various body systems.

Determining the presence of potassium ferrocyanide in the composition of the product is quite simple. Such products are characterized by a whitish coating on the shell.

Therefore, if during the inspection of the product there is a white coating on the packaging of cheese, sausage or other product, it is recommended to refuse to purchase and choose a different type of product.

What danger is fraught with E-536

In our country, the use of this additive in the food industry and in the chemical industry is allowed, but there are certain restrictions on its amount. For salt, the permissible rate is up to twenty milligrams of E536 per kilogram of product. But it should be borne in mind that even in such small quantities, potassium ferrocyanide can cause serious harm to the body.

There are a number of problems that can arise from the use of potassium luminol ferroncyanide:

severe intoxication of the body as a whole;
severe dysfunction of the lymphatic system;
various stages of disturbances in the functioning of the nervous system;
manifestation of problems with the skin (dermatitis, acne, acne, purulent inflammation);
disorders of the liver and gallbladder;
disruption of the digestive tract.

The powder with a small fraction of yellow crystals is a chemically synthesized additive that is obtained during gas cleaning at gas plants.

From the very name of potassium ferrocyanide, it becomes clear that this additive contains cyanide compounds. Probably everyone knows how much potassium cyanide is harmful to the human body. Toxic additive E536 can be obtained in different ways and the amount of cyanide and hydrocyanic acid in it varies. When the additive enters the stomach, contact with stomach acid is observed, as a result, dangerous hydrocyanic acid and toxic gases will be released.

Scientists do not comment on the situation with the use of this most dangerous emulsifier, especially where its use can be abandoned.

To date, potassium ferrocyanide is produced from waste materials, which contain a large amount of cyanide compounds.

This additive is completely odorless, with a bitter-salty taste. The density of the additive is 1.85 grams per cubic centimeter. By maintaining normal room temperature with completely dry air, this food additive will not decompose on contact with air.

The toxicity reaches its maximum upon contact of the additive with, as serious toxic gases begin to be released. The harm and benefits of this additive are currently being actively studied in many countries in order to determine the possibility of using E536 in any industry.

During the period of buying a variety of products, it is worthwhile to carefully study the tags indicating the composition, and, if possible, avoid buying products with the presence of E536, since if this additive is used improperly (with a broken technology), serious and even fatal consequences for the human body can be provoked.

Use of E536 in industry

Potassium ferrocyanide is actively used not only in the food industry, but also not in the food industry, in the form of dyes for fabrics and paper, as a utilizer of radioactive coal or as fertilizers. The maximum dose in our country for the use of this additive is ten milligrams per kilogram of the product.

In the case of a large amount of E536 in dyes, etc. the following reactions of the body can be provoked: allergic rash, redness, itching, ulcers, headache, mucosal lesions, etc.

In any case, potassium ferrocyanide will have an effect on a person, therefore, its use should be limited to the maximum.