Some time ago, the Consumer Council of Shenzhen municipality released a report on the comparison and comparison of potato chips between China and Foreign countries in 2020. It showed that acrylamide, a carcinogen, was detected in potato chips of several well-known brands.
Once the report was released, it caused widespread concern, and many people wondered whether they might be more likely to get cancer by indulging in crisps for leisure. But there are so many crisps in the supermarket, can we still eat them? Today, Coco is going to answer it for you.
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Potato chips contain carcinogens
What the hell is going on?
According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, acrylamide is classified as a class 2A carcinogen, meaning there is sufficient evidence that it causes cancer in animals and is likely to cause cancer in humans. When it enters the body, it can be absorbed in a variety of ways and may damage the nervous system, early infant development and male reproductive health.
But where exactly does acrylamide come from in potato chips?
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Why do potato chips have acrylamide, a carcinogen?
The main raw material of potato chips is potato, which is rich in carbohydrates. During the high-temperature frying and baking process above 120℃, The Maillard reaction will occur, which will make the food dark and give out fragrance. But at the same time, acrylamide is also produced.
In general, the longer the processing time, the higher the temperature, the higher the content of acrylamide.
Baked potato chips usually contain more acrylamide because they are cooked at a relatively low temperature and thus have a longer time to accumulate. The aforementioned report also showed that the average acrylamide content of baked potato chips (3441ug/kg) was higher than that of fried potato chips (547ug/kg) in the potato chips tested.
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Can I still eat potato chips? Don’t cross this red line
If potato chips contain acrylamide, can you still eat them?
For adults weighing 75kg and 55kg, acrylamide intake above 12,750ug and 9,350ug per day, respectively, was associated with a certain risk of developing cancer, according to data from the United Nations Who and the European Union model.
In theory, reaching that dose would require each adult to eat about 3 to 4 kilograms of potato chips a day (regardless of acrylamide in other foods), which is almost impossible.
So eat potato chips, but try to eat them sparingly or without them. For one thing, the lower the acrylamide intake, the better; On the other hand, potato chips are often high in oil, salt, calories and trans fat, which easily increase the risk of a series of diseases such as obesity, hyperlipidemia and hypertension.
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These common foods
Acrylamide is a major disaster area.
In fact, not only potato chips, acrylamide is found in many common foods in our life, and it is difficult to avoid it completely.
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These foods are high in acrylamide
The food such as baking, frying and puking is the most important area of acrylamide. Such as:
◎ Sesame seeds, fried dough sticks, baked or fried cakes, etc.;
◎ Coffee, dark tea and other baked drinks;
Baked goods such as biscuits and bread.
And, the more color yellow, brown, coke, acrylamide content is higher.
In addition, cigarettes are one of the highest levels of acrylamide and contain a variety of substances that are more carcinogenic than acrylamide, so quit smoking as soon as possible.
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How to reduce acrylamide intake?
Acrylamide is common in your diet. How can you reduce your intake as much as possible? There are mainly the following four points:
(1) as far as possible to eat fried, barbecue and other food, especially burnt, fried paste food do not eat;
Foods rich in starch, such as potatoes, can be soaked in water for 10 to 20 minutes to reduce the starch content, thus reducing the production of acrylamide when cooking.
Some vegetables with sweet taste, such as: zucchini, Chinese cabbage, broccoli, spinach, bamboo shoots, water bamboo, rapeseed, etc., are rich in aspartic acid, and easy to produce acrylamide in the cooking process. It is recommended that these vegetables be blanched first to remove some of the acrylamide and to shorten the cooking time at high temperature.
People who love to drink coffee, try to choose to brew coffee, acrylamide content is far lower than instant coffee.
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Except for acrylamide
These common carcinogens are more alarming
Acrylamide is not good for health, but in our daily life, there are many more dangerous substances – level 1 carcinogens with definite carcinogenic effect on the human body, we need to be more vigilant.
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Benzopyrene: highly reactive indirect carcinogen
Benzopyrene is the most toxic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons a strong carcinogen, it can pass through the nose and mouth, or even the skin into the body, transformed into dozens of metabolites, which in turn can cause gene damage, increase the risk of cancer.
Animal experiments have proved that long-term inhalation or consumption of food containing higher benzo pyrene is easy to induce lung cancer, liver cancer, colorectal cancer, gastric cancer and other cancers.
Cigarette smoke, car exhaust, and high temperature cooking foods such as smoking and frying are common sources of benzopyrene. When the temperature of stir-frying oil exceeds 270℃, benzopyrene will be produced. BBQ, especially fatty meat, chicken skin, lamb chops and other high fat food, scorched part of the benzopyrene content can be as high as 10~20 times that of ordinary food.
How to reduce the intake of benzopyrene?
◎ More cooking, less frying. Cook as much as you can. Don’t wait for the oil to smoke before cooking. Heat the pan and cool the oil.
◎ Choose non-stick pan. Experiments show that under the same cooking conditions, non-stick pot than stainless steel pot, iron pot less oil, the production of benzopyrene is relatively less.
◎ Use the right cooking oil. Good cooking oil can help reduce benzopyrene at the source, it is recommended to choose cold pressed, high grade (extra grade, first grade), less added cooking oil.
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Nitrosamines: one of the four major food contaminants
Nitrosamines may be less well known, but their precursors, nitrites, are well known and may be found in vegetables, meat, and other foods.
Under normal circumstances, most of the nitrite in human body absorb urine in vitro, but if nitrite high intake of food for a long time, such as pickles, smoked food, nitrite could be combined with proteins to generate nitrosamines, may induce gastric cancer, esophagus cancer, liver cancer, colon cancer and bladder cancer and other cancers.
In addition, beer, hotpot soup, cigarettes may contain nitrosamines, if a large amount of intake, the harm to the human body will be multiplied.
How to reduce the harm of nitrosamines?
Eat less salted and smoked food. Smoked food contains more nitrite, can be converted into carcinogen in the body nitrosamine. Eat homemade pickles, be sure to avoid the peak period of nitrite (day 3 to 8), 19 days later is safer.
◎ Eat more foods rich in VC. Studies have proved that vitamin C can inhibit the synthesis of nitrosamines. Daily can be appropriate to increase the intake of fresh fruits and vegetables, especially winter jujube, orange, kiwi, Chinese cabbage and other VC content is higher.
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Aflatoxin: One of the strongest carcinogens
Aflatoxin, one of the most powerful carcinogens found so far, is 10 times as toxic as potassium cyanide and 68 times as toxic as arsenic.
Studies have shown that aflatoxin can change the composition of DNA and induce liver cancer. Aflatoxin can cause cancer if consumed in one dose of 20mg and can even cause death in adults.
More importantly, aflatoxin is difficult to be eliminated, the ordinary boiling disinfection method has almost no effect on it, 280℃ above the high temperature to kill.
How to reduce the harm of aflatoxin?
Foods with high starch content, such as peanuts, corn, beans, nuts, etc., are easy to breed Aspergillus flavus in a humid environment of 28~38℃. Cracked chopsticks and deep scratches on wood cutting boards can easily hide food debris and allow aspergillus flavus to take advantage. Therefore, pay attention to:
Moisture proof. Peanuts, corn, beans and other foods should be stored in a low temperature dry place, dry kelp can be used + Prickly ash moisture-proof moth; Chopsticks and other wooden tableware and kitchenware should be kept dry and replaced regularly; The damp place such as toilet is much ventilated wait.
◎ Cast out in time. If food is found to be moldy, it must be promptly discarded, because aspergillus flavus is spread in the form of spores, easily causing mildew. Eat mildew food, should spit out in time and gargle.
Drink some broccoli sprouts. Glucoside glucoside is rich in broccoli seedling, which can accelerate the metabolism of aflatoxin in the body. Also can eat fresh vegetables more, the chlorophyll in which can inhibit the human body to aflatoxin absorption.
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Processed meat products: “tasty” carcinogens
Bacon, sausage, ham and other processed meat, because of its unique flavor, loved by people. But as early as 2015, processed meat was identified as a class 1 carcinogen.
Processed meat products may produce carcinogens in salting, drying, smoking, etc. Improper processing of bacon can produce a class of substances called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are direct carcinogens.
One study found that one two servings of processed meat a day over a long period of time increased the risk of colon cancer by 18 percent. Therefore, it is best to eat less processed meat.
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Betel nut: “popular” carcinogen
Many people in Hunan, Guangdong, Fujian and other regions in China have the habit of chewing betel nut, which is refreshing and addictive. Betel nut ranks fourth in the world as an addictive consumer product, after tobacco, alcohol and coffee. Statistics show that more than 60 million people in China eat betel nut products.
However, betel nut has been classified as a class 1 carcinogen by the World Health Organization since 2003. On the one hand, betel nut fiber rough, long-term chewing betel nut will cause oral mucosa and teeth damage; Areca, on the other hand, contains a variety of compounds, including alkaloids, that can directly kill cells and cause inflammation, which can damage the mouth.
The two effects can lead to the sustained damage of oral mucosa, and over time, genetic mutations may occur in the repair process of oral mucosa, leading to oral cancer.
Data showed that the proportion of lesions in the oral mucosa of betelnut chewers was 66%, while that of non-chewers was only 1.5%. To make matters worse, the survival rates of those who chewed betel nuts and developed oral cancer were significantly lower than those of other oral cancers.
Therefore, people who have the habit of eating betel nut suggest timely abstinence.
There are many other primary carcinogens in life, such as the familiar helicobacter pylori, tobacco, alcohol metabolism produced by acetaldehyde is everywhere.
In addition to avoiding risk factors, we can eat more foods rich in high-quality protein, such as milk, beans, eggs, chicken and fish, which can help improve DNA repair ability, assist to prevent genetic mutations caused by carcinogens and reduce the risk of cancer.
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