Source: The Second Hospital of Zhejiang University
In recent years, the incidence and prevalence of overweight and obesity have been increasing [1], and people’s demand for weight management has become more and more urgent. Consumers want both health and low-fat food. More and more businesses have launched “low-fat, healthier”, “oil-free baking, low-fat and healthy”, “oil-free tender frying, low-fat”. “Low-calorie” air fryers, consumers believe that the food made by the air fryer has the characteristics of low fat, and can eat the same taste as the fried food, and will not consume too much energy, so they relax their vigilance. As a result, air fryers have swept the country.
So is the air fryer really as harmless to our health as the manufacturer says? Are we free to use the air fryer to cook whatever we want? Let’s take a look at the air fryer next.
The working principle of the air fryer
In short, the air fryer uses air to replace the hot oil in the original frying pan, and uses the convection of the hot solar air to heat food, which can be understood as air. A fryer is actually a simple oven with a fan.
The air fryer is a machine that can use air to “fry”. It mainly uses air to replace the hot oil in the original frying pan to make the food cooked; at the same time, the hot air is also blown away. The moisture on the surface of the food is removed, so that the ingredients can achieve a similar frying effect.
The working principle of the air fryer is “high-speed air circulation technology”, which generates hot air by heating the heat pipe inside the machine at high temperature, and then blows the high-temperature air into the pot with a fan to heat the food, so that the hot air is heated. It circulates in a closed space and uses the oil of the food itself to fry the food, so that the food is dehydrated, the surface becomes golden and crisp, and the frying effect is achieved [2].
Is the food made in the air fryer really healthy?
Since the temperature set in the air fryer is higher than 120°C, starch-rich foods are more likely to produce acrylamide, a carcinogen, at this high temperature. Therefore, it cannot be considered that the air fryer is made food is healthy.
Acrylamide is produced by Maillard reaction, in short, it is produced by chemical reaction of sugar and amino acid at high temperature [3]. The WHO/FAO Expert Advisory Committee recognized that acrylamide in food can induce genetic mutation and carcinogenesis in laboratory animals, and recognized the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as a Class IIA carcinogen.
Compared with the traditional cooking method of steaming and stewing, the food made by the air fryer cannot be regarded as healthy in the strict sense, and the heating temperature is generally higher than 120℃. Acrylamide begins to form, the most suitable temperature is 140-180 ℃, and the largest amount is generated at about 170 ℃. High-temperature processing of potatoes and cereals and other high-starchy foods, especially those made from air fryers Such as potato chips, French fries, fried chicken, etc., the content of acrylamide is high, and it increases significantly with time. In the final stages of using the air fryer, more acrylamide is formed due to reduced surface moisture and increased surface temperature [4].
What are the advantages of the air fryer itself?
Compared with traditional frying methods, the food made by the air fryer contains less oil, and the indoor air will not be polluted by oil fumes.
There is no doubt that the air fryer uses the food’s own fat to brown the surface of the food. Compared with traditional frying and deep-frying methods, there is no need to add additional cooking oil. The amount is relatively small compared to the traditional frying method.
At the same time, the air fryer cooks food in a closed environment and does not release oil fumes, thus avoiding oil fumes on the respiratory tract and The damage to the lungs reduces the harm to the human body.
Should the air fryer be used every day?
Of course not. It is recommended to minimize the use of the air fryer. You should not hand over the ingredients to the air fryer to save time and energy. If you really want to eat fried food, you can use the air fryer once in a while. It is also possible to make French fries, chicken nuggets, etc., and enjoy the deliciousness.
What cannot be ignored is that the temperature of the air fryer is generally set higher than 120 ℃, and the food produced will inevitably contain acrylamide. Therefore, if you want to make “healthy objects”, it is better to Traditional cooking methods such as steaming and stewing are recommended, which can not only avoid the harm of oil fumes to the lungs, but also avoid the intake of acrylamide, and reduce the risk of lung cancer and other cancers.
References:
[1] Kelly T, Yang W, Chen C.-S, Reynolds K, He J. Global burden of obesity in 2005 and projections to 2030 [J ]. International Journal of Obesity, 2008, 32(9): 1431-1437.
[2] Infusion can prevent stroke, air fryer can cause cancer… The scientific rumor list refutes these health “pseudoscience” “. China Shanghai Portal.
[3] Mottram DS, Wedzicha BL, Dodson AT. Acrylamide is formed in the maillard reaction[J]. Nature,2002,419( 2):448－449．
[4] Tang Yun. Acrylamide detection method and its application in high temperature fried food [D]. Xihua University, 2021.
Review: Hu Haiyan