Can I still eat the leftover overnight dishes from the Chinese New Year?

Can I still eat the leftover overnight dishes from the Chinese New Year? Does it really cause cancer? tell mom and dad

The Spring Festival is a festival for families to reunite and share delicacies.

But I often hear people say that there are nitrites in overnight dishes, which can cause cancer

Nitrite itself is not carcinogenic, but in the environment of gastric acid, nitrite can react with amines, which are the decomposition products of protein in the stomach, to form nitrosamines with strong teratogenicity and carcinogenicity.

So from a scientific point of view, is "Yu" leftovers healthy, and is there any harm in eating overnight vegetables?

Do uncooked vegetables also contain nitrites?

Plant foods themselves contain nitrates and nitrites.

After the plant is harvested, more nitrate reductase is released, and during the placement process, bacteria in the environment also contain nitrate reductase, which can greatly increase the nitrite content

The nitrate content of green leafy vegetables is relatively high, so if the purchased vegetables are stored for a long time, the nitrite will also increase.

What are the health risks of overnight dishes?

The biggest health risk of overnight dishes comes from nitrites

During the high temperature cooking process, the nitrate reductase activity of the food itself has been lost, but the heated food is also more conducive to the growth of bacteria.

　　Ningbo Quality Inspection Institute has selected 32 kinds of raw materials such as vegetables, meat, eggs, etc.

　　Leafy vegetables

　　The experiment found that after 12 hours at room temperature, the nitrite content of leafy vegetables increased significantly, and some of them exceeded the nitrite in pickled vegetables ( In terms of sodium nitrite), the upper limit of 20mg/kg, after being placed for 24 hours, some even reached more than 100mg/kg

　　After 24 hours of refrigeration, the nitrite content of all dishes was still within the safe value

　　Fish, meat, soy products, etc.

　　Their own nitrite content is very low, and some processed meats will use a small amount of nitrite as a food additive to color and inhibit bacteria

　　Therefore, home-cooked meat dishes are generally not at risk of elevated nitrite overnight, but fish, meat and soy products are all protein-rich foods, and they are a natural culture medium placed at room temperature, which is very suitable for bacterial growth.

　　Starchy foods such as rice and pasta

　　It is easy to be contaminated by Bacillus cereus when placed at room temperature, which can cause abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting and other symptoms after eating

　　It is worth noting that overnight dishes do not only refer to dishes that have been left overnight.

　　Can I eat overnight dishes?

　　The nitrite content in vegetables stored in the refrigerator overnight is much lower than the national standard for processed foods, so overnight vegetables are actually edible if they are stored properly.
Simply and rudely, it is an alarmist to say that overnight vegetables cause cancer
.

　　The long-term food safety risk of meat and vegetable food comes from harmful microorganisms, and the risk of cancer is very low
.

　　How to store overnight dishes?

　　There are many ways in our lives to avoid these food risks
.

　　1.
Minimize the storage time of vegetables, especially green leafy vegetables, and buy them now
.

　　2.
Wash the unfinished dishes in advance and wrap them in plastic wrap to reduce the bacteria they carry
.

　　3.
Before putting meat and seafood into the freezer layer, it is best to cut them into small pieces and pack them as much as you eat to avoid repeated freezing and thawing, which will accelerate spoilage or cause damage and loss of nutrients
.

　　4.
For prepared meals, if you realize in advance that you can’t finish them, you can pack them and refrigerate them before you eat them to reduce bacterial contamination
.

　　5.
For refrigerated overnight food, it is necessary to ensure that the high temperature is heated through, that is, heated to above 100 ℃ for a few minutes, because most harmful microorganisms and toxins are heat-labile
.

　　The World Health Organization has put forward the "Five Keys for Safety", which mentions that cooked food should not be placed at room temperature for more than 2 hours, leftovers should not be heated more than once, and the refrigerator should be cleaned regularly.
The refrigerator is not a safe, whether it is refrigerated , or frozen, food should not be stored for too long
.

　　Everyone must keep it in mind!

Editor: Meng Tingwei

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