Stop eating blood pudding before it's too late.
Many people believe that eating blood pudding is cooling and nutritious, and not a few of them have paid the price with their lives.
High risk of infection
Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Duy Thinh, a staff member of the Institute of Food Technology, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, shared that nowadays, people not only consume blood pudding made from common animals and poultry such as pigs, ducks, and goats, but also from wild animals such as mole rats and porcupines.
"Many people believe that eating blood pudding has high nutritional value and can cure diseases. However, in reality, blood pudding does not have as much nutritional value as many people think, and can even be very harmful," Associate Professor Dr. Thinh affirmed.
Firstly, eating blood pudding essentially means consuming raw blood along with meat and bones, so it's impossible to eliminate the bacteria and parasites present in the animal.
"Blood pudding carries many pathogens, especially the blood of pigs, chickens, ducks, etc., that are infected. For example, if you eat blood pudding from a sick pig, its blood will contain disease-causing germs and bacteria. Therefore, people who consume blood pudding from such animals risk contracting diseases such as streptococcal infection in pigs, parasitic infections, gastrointestinal diseases, meningococcal encephalitis, and in severe cases, it can be fatal," Mr. Thinh added.
According to the expert, the risk of infection from eating raw blood is very high, especially in the context of outbreaks of many diseases such as influenza A/H5N1 and H1N1.
Secondly, the risk of poisoning from animal blood is very high. During the slaughtering process, there is both dark blood and red blood, which are difficult for people to distinguish. Mr. Thinh said that dark blood is a toxic waste product of the animal and is completely harmful to health.
Furthermore, he asserted that eating blood pudding is not a positive Vietnamese cultural practice because it originates from the ancient hunting culture of the inhabitants, who drank the fresh blood of animals that had been shot. Therefore, blood pudding should not be consumed.
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Experts advise you to stop the habit of eating blood pudding immediately.
Blood pudding is not cooling and does not cure diseases.
Associate Professor Thinh also stated that in many places like Moc Chau, Son La, people now eat steamed blood pudding instead of raw blood, thus reducing the risk of infection. However, this dish does not have any medicinal effects as many people claim.
"There's no basis for claiming that eating blood pudding is cooling; it's simply that when you eat blood pudding, you consume raw blood and cooled meat, giving you a cooling sensation in your mouth. Cooked animal blood also has nutritional value and helps provide iron to the body, but eating raw blood, besides the risk of infection, the red blood cells it contains are not easily digested by the human body and can even cause illness," he explained.
Sharing the same view, Dr. Cao Thi Thanh Huong, Deputy Director of the Center for Applied Traditional Medicine of the Hanoi Association of Traditional Medicine, also affirmed that blood pudding has no medicinal effects.
"In traditional Chinese medicine, blood pudding has no medicinal properties; on the contrary, consuming it is very dangerous and can lead to death. However, illness doesn't usually develop immediately after eating blood pudding; there's often an incubation period. Therefore, it's best for everyone to abandon the habit of eating blood pudding as soon as possible," she said.
Don't let parasites get into your brain.
Dr. Dang Thi Nga from the Institute of Malaria, Parasitology, and Entomology in Ho Chi Minh City stated: “Any parasite, including bacteria, when it enters the body, will first enter the bloodstream, and then spread to other parts of the body. Meanwhile, the brain's structure is very loose, making it easy for flukes and parasites to enter and adapt there. Flukes are more numerous than worms in the brain, although worms also parasitize the blood.”
Whether or not someone who eats raw blood pudding gets infected with worms or parasites depends on whether the animal was infected. Ms. Nga further shared that, generally, animals raised industrially and fed with processed feed are less likely to be infected with parasites than those raised by households or free-range. This is because they are fed processed industrial feed instead of being left to graze in the open air and eating plants or vegetables containing worm and parasite larvae and eggs. Of course, industrially raised animals also have the risk of being contaminated with other chemicals.
Dr. Nga also recounted many cases of death due to eating raw blood soup. She remembers most vividly the case of patient H., the owner of a pig offal and raw blood soup shop in Thai Binh, who was hospitalized with complete paralysis. A CT scan revealed a large number of parasites in the patient's brain. The patient later passed away because the diagnosis was made too late.
According to the expert, infectious diseases from sick pigs and chickens are not only easily transmitted through the digestive tract, such as eating undercooked meat, raw meat dishes, or blood pudding, but also through contact. People who care for, slaughter, or transport the meat and blood of sick animals can be infected through wounds or scratches on their skin.
Therefore, those involved in slaughtering, distributing, and processing pork, poultry, and waterfowl must wear quality-assured gloves.
"Eating raw blood soup is a habit that can easily cause illness. If the illness is severe, it can lead to death or leave neurological sequelae such as dementia, memory loss, paralysis, or even amputation. It is best for people to abandon this habit immediately," Dr. Nga warned.
According to Zing.vn
