Got cancer from picking up food with... moldy chopsticks

Chopsticks are a common item in every family, but few people know how to preserve them. If bacteria are allowed to hide, they will cause diarrhea, infection, and even cancer.

Doctor Huynh Lien Doan, Ho Chi Minh City Medical Association, said that after 3-6 months of use, chopsticks will change color to darker or lighter. If the time is longer, chopsticks will become a breeding ground for disease-causing mold and bacteria.

Many people do not have the habit of drying chopsticks. After washing, they put them away while they are still wet.

In humid environments, wooden chopsticks become a breeding ground for aspergillus flavus - a type of fungus that contains carcinogenic toxins.

More seriously, according to the World Health Organization, moldy chopsticks also produce aflatoxin, a carcinogenic poison that is 68 times more toxic than arsenic, 10 times more toxic than potassium cyanide, and extremely destructive to liver cells.

If you absorb more than 1 mg of aflatoxin, you are at risk of developing severe liver cancer. Doctor Doan gives an example of a person weighing about 70 kg, if he absorbs more than 20 mg of aflatoxin, it can lead to death. For wooden chopsticks, the doctor recommends that people replace them after 4 months of use to avoid mold.

According to Zing