Living in dirty waters? Do shrimp heads contain heavy metals? 2 things to really worry about when eating crayfish

After a few months of silence, the season of eating “Ma Xiao” is coming…

Crayfish, also known as Crayfish.

This species originally came from aliens, but lost to the mouths of the big foodies, and also staged a failed textbook-level “invasion failure”.

Because of this, there is no other food, like crayfish, that can break geographical discrimination and taste barriers so quickly, and quickly conquer the taste buds of almost all Chinese .

In just one month’s night, approximately 1,500 tons of crayfish were “killed” across the country

According to the “China Crayfish Industry Development Report (2017)”: In 2016 alone, the total output of crayfish in my country was 899,100 tons (including fishing output), and the consumption reached 899,100 tons. 87.93 tons, becoming the world’s largest producer and consumer of crayfish.

And another data shows that in June 2016 alone, about 1,500 tons of crayfish were wiped out by foodies in the country.

Crawfish, living in dirty waters?

As the saying goes: Shrimp red is right and wrong. Behind the popularity of crayfish, there are also many rumors about it.

Due to their strong adaptability to the environment, crayfish can survive even severe pollution, but nowadays, in order to increase their production, cultured crayfish usually live in clean waters.

Therefore, as long as the crayfish purchased through regular channels is not as “dirty” as everyone imagines.

Shrimp heads rich in heavy metals?

Even crayfish living in sewage are concentrated in the shell, and these heavy metals will be reduced as the shell sheds during the growth of the crayfish.

Compared to the body of the shrimp, the head of the shrimp is indeed rich in heavy metals, but aside from the dose and toxicity, the number and amount of crayfish we eat a year is far from harming our health.

Of course, if you usually eat crayfish, it is better to choose shrimp.

Compared to these, the real thing to pay attention to is whether the crayfish is cooked or not

You should know that the frequent news of food poisoning caused by crayfish is mainly due to the fact that the crayfish has not been thoroughly cooked and the bacteria have not been completely killed during the processing process.

In itself, crayfish organs are mainly concentrated in the head, including excretory organs, antennal glands and excretory pores. Crayfish have gills on their heads and are prone to contact with external water sources, in which case they are easily infected by some bacteria and viruses.

The common parasite in crayfish is blood-sucking worms. Once infected, it is easy to cause cough and bloody sputum, dizziness, headache, difficulty urinating, loss of vision and other problems.

In addition, crayfish usually have a big head and a small tail. The meat of the shrimp body is old, but the shrimp head may not be fully cooked, and the shrimp head is more likely to hide dirt and carry various pathogenic bacteria.

Therefore, if you eat these undercooked crayfish, you will be prone to diarrhea.

Crawfish spoiled and may also produce toxins

Crayfish will easily deteriorate once they die, and some businesses will continue to sell some stale or spoiled crayfish.

Although high temperature can kill bacteria, it cannot kill the toxins produced by bacteria during the deterioration of crayfish—-

Such as Staphylococcus aureus, although it can be killed within a few minutes at a high temperature of 100°C, its production of enterotoxins has strong heat resistance. It remains toxic even after boiling for several hours.

At the same time, some street food stalls or small restaurants often use gutter oil or stale ingredients, coupled with unclean tableware and dirty eating environment, which can easily induce food poisoning.

Even if you make your own crayfish at home, you need to pay attention to cleaning and processing

Compared with ordinary shrimp and crabs, the abdomen and head of crayfish are easy to hide dirt, but it is difficult to clean.

Therefore, it is recommended that when the crayfish is still alive, you need to grab it from the back of the crayfish, squeeze the shell of the head of the crayfish, and then slowly decompose it, so that it can be very good Clean the shell of the crayfish head.

During the processing, it is best to use a brush to wash the shrimp shells, and to remove the gills at the same time. Because the gill hairs absorb a lot of bacteria, they may not be fully cooked even in the pot. At the same time, the crayfish grasps the roots finely and is easy to hide dirt and dirt, and it is difficult to clean.

Therefore, it is recommended to use a brush to clean the dirt on the body, remove the guts of clean sediment and bacteria, and then wash it thoroughly with clean water 2-3 times.

Having said so much, why don’t you have a crayfish dinner tonight?

References:

【1】Zhang Meng, Zhu Chunchao, Wang Yan, et al. Research progress of heavy metal enrichment in Procrastinus cruzi [J]. Journal of Nanchang University (Medical Edition), 2016, 56(2) :80-87.

[2] Hu Panpan, Ren Xiaohu, He Ling, Wu Desheng, Liu Jianjun. Research progress of Chinese crayfish-related Huff disease [J]. Chinese Journal of Food Hygiene. 2018(01): 113-119