Food left in the refrigerator for a long time is at risk of bacterial contamination.

Many people have the habit of storing cooked food in the refrigerator and eating it later. However, according to MSc. Dr. Le Thi Hai, National Institute of Nutrition, food left in the refrigerator for a long time will be at risk of losing nutrients, spoiling or being contaminated with bacteria.

Use the refrigerator properly

Ms. Hai recommends that the principle of using a refrigerator is to clean it regularly; do not mix raw food with cooked food; food needs to be stored in sealed containers, wrapped in plastic wrap to avoid odors and contamination of other foods in the refrigerator; only store fresh food (avoid spoiled or rotten food).

Note: fresh, raw meat and fish should be kept in the freezer, divided into meals for convenience and only used within about a month; food in the refrigerator should be used within a week; cooked food should be recooked before eating; let food cool before putting it in the refrigerator...

In addition, do not stuff too much food into the refrigerator, causing it to overload, not circulate air, causing poor cooling, affecting food preservation; the refrigerator needs to operate continuously, avoid frequent plugging and unplugging, which does not ensure the storage temperature in the refrigerator.

Nitrites increase the risk of cancer

Recently, news websites reported the story of a Taiwanese (Chinese) woman who developed stomach cancer due to regularly eating food kept in the refrigerator for 10 years.

Accordingly, one year after discovering the disease, the woman lost weight very quickly, from 60kg to 28kg. After eight rounds of chemotherapy and gastric surgery, the disease was still not controlled and the patient died.

The reason mentioned is that food left in the refrigerator for a long time produces nitrite and absorbing this substance for a long time will cause cancer.

However, according to Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Duy Thinh, nitrites in vegetables and fruits today are due to the spraying of pesticides with high nitrite content; and in meat and fish, they are from preservatives that keep the meat and fish fresh. When entering the body, nitrites react with amino acids in the stomach to form nitrosamines (a precursor to cancer).

Refrigerators are an invention of mankind with the purpose of preserving food and limiting the process of food decomposition, so saying that eating food kept in the refrigerator for a long time leads to cancer lacks scientific basis, and requires specific assessments and research to avoid causing confusion for users.

Regarding nitrite, MSc. Dr. Pham Thi Viet Huong, Central Cancer Hospital, said that many studies have shown that nitrite is the culprit that increases the risk of some digestive tract cancers if someone continuously absorbs it for a long time. If nitrite is absorbed at a higher level than the permitted level, it can cause acute poisoning. Nitrite appears in many sausages, smoked meats, pickled eggplants...

Dr. Le Thi Hong Hao, National Institute for Food Safety and Hygiene, analyzed: all types of protein when decomposed by microorganisms produce harmful toxins, creating foul odors such as nitrite, ammonia... If absorbing too much nitrite at one time can cause acute poisoning, if absorbing nitrite content exceeding the allowable threshold continuously and for a long time can cause adverse effects on the health of the user.

Many people think that food stored in the refrigerator is safe, but it is not, because at the temperature of the refrigerator, microorganisms are only inhibited (slowly active) but not dead, food is actually still decomposed but at a slower rate than the outside environment. If food is stored in the refrigerator for too long, it can still cause the risk of poisoning, and in the long run, it can cause other effects on the health of the user.

Dr. Hao added: Currently, we do not prohibit but still allow nitrite in food, but depending on the type of food, we need to limit the appropriate content so as not to affect users./.

According to tuoitre.vn