3 foods containing the most chemicals that people often eat during Tet

Popular dishes during Tet such as dried bamboo shoots, pork skin, etc. can contain chemicals and threaten the health of consumers.

1. Dried bamboo shoots

Dried bamboo shoots are a traditional food and are often processed into many dishes during Tet. However, dried bamboo shoots contain sulfur - often used in the drying process to prevent mold, create a more beautiful yellow color for the bamboo shoots or soak in bleaching chemicals to make the bamboo shoots whiter to deceive consumers.

Eating a lot of dried bamboo shoots contains chemicals that are harmful to health. Illustration photo.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that the sulfur content in food processing and preservation should not exceed 20 mg per kilogram of product. Because, if the sulfur content enters the body at too high a concentration, in the long term it can cause damage to the nervous system, circulation, cardiovascular system, vision, immunity, reproduction, brain, endocrine system and many other functions.

According to some experts, dried bamboo shoots without chemicals have a light yellow-brown color, amber color, meticulous grain, thick flesh, do not feel moist when touched, can be broken. Bamboo shoots still retain a characteristic aroma, do not have strange odors, and are not moldy.

Bamboo shoots dried with sulfur will have a characteristic burnt smell, are usually shiny, look attractive, and never get moldy. You should not buy bamboo shoots with unusual colors.

2. Dried vermicelli

Vermicelli is a popular food, consumed a lot on normal days and holidays. Currently, there are many types of vermicelli on the market, clear white vermicelli, golden yellow vermicelli, grey vermicelli... Consumers often choose to buy vermicelli with golden yellow or slightly grey color...

Vermicelli needs to be washed many times to reduce chemicals. Illustration photo

However, to create color, many production facilities use iron powder to dye the vermicelli to create a very eye-catching yellow color.

According to food chemist Ho Thu Thuy, former Central Food Testing Center, iron powder, also known as iron oxide, is produced in a refined form and is still used in food. When refined, iron powder is not toxic. However, there is a group of iron oxides that are refined to a very low level and are not used as food coloring powder.

Iron powder used to “dye” vermicelli has low purity, contains many toxic metals such as lead, mercury or toxic impurities. These are toxic substances, difficult to control and dangerous for users. For example, lead metal when absorbed into the blood will cause anemia, damage the liver, kidneys… For young children, absorbing too much can cause stimulation, hyperactivity or affect the nervous system.

Frequent exposure to iron powder can cause dermatitis, asthma, gastritis, and kidney failure. Absorption of large amounts can cause acute poisoning with symptoms such as abdominal pain, convulsions, vomiting, etc.

Avoid buying unusually shiny vermicelli. When processing, wash the vermicelli with a few drops of water or diluted salt water... This will help decompose the chemical components and preservatives, reducing the risk of toxicity of foods containing these chemicals.

3. Skin ball

Pork skin balls are also one of the foods used during Vietnamese Tet. Usually, raw pork skin is cleaned of fat, boiled until cooked, then scraped and washed, then dried in the sun until hard. Finally, the pork skin is put into a high temperature oven to pop into balls.

Recently, authorities have caught several establishments using pig skin soaked in chemicals to bleach and expand the skin. This shows that not all skin-gloss products ensure food safety.

Currently, to clean pig skin, many production facilities use hydrogen peroxide, bleach and industrial additives such as potassium sulfite and hydrosulfite which have strong bleaching properties to clean pig skin.

Regularly eating chemically treated pork skin leads to poisoning (illustrative photo)

According to nutritionist Hoai Thu, Thanh Nhan Hospital, regularly eating pig skin bleached with chemicals will lead to poisoning, diarrhea, stomachache, nausea, digestive disorders, and increased risk of cancer.

To buy delicious pork skin balls, clean skin balls are usually pinkish white. When processed, clean skin balls will be crispy and chewy. Clean skin balls often have a characteristic rich aroma.

The pig skin soaked in chemicals has an unusually pure white color. Even though the dirty pig skin has been cleaned, when processed, you can still detect a strange chemical smell, a foul, rancid smell.

According to giadinh.net