Tips to identify cakes, jams, vegetables... containing chemicals during Tet
Near Tet, authorities have discovered many cases of dangerous chemicals and dyes being mixed into cakes and candies sold to consumers. How can we know which foods are safe and which ones contain chemicals?
Tet jams in pink, green, and red colors are sold on the market - Photo: XUAN MAI
Not only during Tet but also on normal days, every housewife should be a smart consumer to ensure health for herself and her loved ones.
Associate Professor TRAN HONG CON
As Tet is approaching, consumer purchasing power is increasing sharply. According to authorities, through inspections, some retailers have been found to be mixing in poor quality goods containing chemicals and industrial dyes that are dangerous to consumers’ health.
How can we identify foods containing chemicals?
Some things to note
Associate Professor Tran Hong Con (Chemistry Department, University of Natural Sciences - VNU Hanoi) said that during Tet, there are thousands of foods on the market, not all foods can be identified by the naked eye or manual methods, so consumers need to pay attention:
The first,Absolutely do not buy items without labels, unclear place of manufacture, or expiration date on the packaging. Usually, these items do not ensure food safety due to unclear production technology and ingredients...
Monday,For items that cannot be identified exactly where they were produced due to the nature of the item (such as fresh bamboo shoots, whole cleaned and boiled chickens...), it can be identified by observing the color of the entire food.
Quality, safe food will not have the same uniform color, meaning each location will have different levels of color.
Ways to detect chemicals
Chemistry experts say:
1- Cakes, jams, candies:
You should not buy cakes, jams, or candies of unknown origin, or those with bright, eye-catching colors, because they are often colored with synthetic food coloring, or even industrial colors.
However, there are also home-based businesses that use natural fruits and leaves to dye food, such as pandan leaves, gac fruit, purple potatoes, carrots, and beets. These natural colors are often not fresh.
2- Bamboo shoots:
A safe bamboo shoot is usually light yellow and there is a difference in the level of this light yellow in each part of the bamboo shoot. Specifically, the bamboo shoot tip will be very light yellow, the middle of the stem will be light yellow and gradually fade to the base of the bamboo shoot.
For bamboo shoots whose entire body is a bright yellow color, looking very eye-catching, the possibility of "absorbing" the yellow substance is very high.
Yellow ochre is a chemical used as an industrial colorant and is very toxic. It is classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as a group 3 carcinogen, meaning it is highly carcinogenic.
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| Illustration photo. |
3- Cleaned, boiled chicken:
Chickens sold whole, cleaned or boiled, can be identified in the same way as bamboo shoots. Consumers should observe the color of the entire chicken. If the whole body of the chicken is only yellow or white, looks very beautiful and very fresh, then the possibility of it being chemically treated is also very high. Because the truth is that there is no chicken whose parts have the same color.
4- Watermelon seeds:
You should buy natural red-brown watermelon seeds, not too dark, not shiny. Industrially dyed watermelon seeds are bright red, very eye-catching.
5- Spring rolls:
Homemade spring rolls are often crumbly and lack chewiness. If the spring rolls have a certain chewiness, it is highly likely that borax has been used. To identify this, consumers can buy borax test strips to test the food.
6- Vegetables, tubers, fruits:
Vegetables fertilized with a lot of synthetic fertilizers and growth stimulants usually have large, thin leaves and larger fruits than those fertilized with less synthetic fertilizers and growth stimulants, and are also more difficult to preserve. It is recommended to buy seasonal vegetables, and not to buy vegetables, tubers, or fruits that are too shiny or have colors that are brighter than normal.
The best way to remove pesticides is to wash and soak them in clean water several times before cooking. For fruits, prioritize buying Vietnamese fruits because imported fruits are often chemically treated on the skin to increase the preservation time.
According to Associate Professor Tran Hong Con, buyers need to carefully observe the packaging (place of manufacture, expiry date, ingredients). In particular, they should not be greedy for cheap prices, because of the psychology of liking to buy cheap goods, many manufacturing facilities have made products from materials that do not ensure hygiene and safety.
Dr. Tran Thi Ngoc Lan said that because the quarantine network is thin, and quarantine is implemented very slowly, food has been digested but there are still no test results, and the penalties are very light, so poor quality goods containing toxic substances can still easily penetrate the market.
