Can’t eat overnight food?

There is a widely circulated saying on the Internet that “overnight dishes cannot be eaten”. Whether it is meat dishes or vegetarian dishes, whether they are stored in the refrigerator or not, as long as it is overnight, the sub-category in the food will be reduced. Nitrates will be seriously exceeded, and there is a risk of cancer if eaten. This statement has led to many people’s attitude towards overnight food is “talking about”, Is eating overnight food really bad for our body?

Start with the analysis of nitrite, the carcinogen that most people are concerned about. my country’s national standards for nitrite content in food are 3 mg/kg for meat and 4 mg/kg for vegetables.

The experiment determined the total amount of nitrite in three kinds of overnight vegetables including cabbage, carrot and beef at 12, 24 and 48 hours respectively. It can be seen from Table 1 of the experimental results that the nitrite content of the three overnight dishes is far less than the national standard, and the nitrite content in the overnight dishes will gradually increase with the increase of storage time. The nitrate content is lower than that stored at room temperature. [1]Therefore, nitrite levels in dishes overnight after refrigeration do not pose a health risk.

Since the amount of nitrite in overnight dishes is not high enough to pose a cancer risk, why are people being encouraged to eat less overnight dishes? This is because the nutritional value of overnight dishes decreases after being placed overnight, and microorganisms such as bacteria and molds are prone to breed, causing people to suffer from food-borne diseases after eating.

As long as the prepared vegetables and meat are packaged while they are hot, they are quickly placed in the refrigerator for refrigeration, and thoroughly heated before eating. Overnight dishes that have not deteriorated can be eaten with peace of mind.

The author of this issue: Liang Jiayan

Editor: Jiang Tingting

References:

[1] Lv Yuankai. Determination and analysis of nitrite content in overnight dishes [J]. Food Safety Guide, 2017(15):151-152.

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