Especially northerners especially like to eat steamed stuffed buns. When steaming steamed bread, it is not steamed one by two, but steamed one by one. There will be more steaming in the New Year, and the leftovers will be stored in the refrigerator.
With the popularity of health awareness, people pay more and more attention to food safety and health issues, and the hot discussion about steamed bread has never stopped. There is a saying on the Internet that "steamed bread in the refrigerator will produce aflatoxin". Can I eat it in the refrigerator? Let's get to know each other.
First of all, why can't steamed bread be eaten after it produces aflatoxin? Is aflatoxin terrible?
Who has long listed aflatoxin as a naturally occurring carcinogen. If eaten by mistake, it will do great harm to the human body, especially to the liver. According to the epidemiological investigation of liver cancer in China, it is found that the pollution of aflatoxin in the diet of people in some areas is directly related to primary liver cancer.
Intake of more than 20 mg of aflatoxin has acute toxicity, which can immediately lead to hepatocyte necrosis, induce liver bleeding, and appear nausea, vomiting, jaundice and other manifestations.
Long-term intake of small doses of aflatoxin can cause chronic poisoning, chronic liver injury, chronic hepatitis and liver necrosis.
Among aflatoxins, aflatoxin is a kind of metabolic mixed product with similar structure produced by Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus. There are seven kinds of aflatoxins, the basic structures of which are difuran ring and coumarin. The former is a basic toxic structure, and the latter is a carcinogen. Aflatoxin is very stable and heat-resistant, does not decompose below the melting point (200 ~300), and has strong toxicity, mainly damaging the liver, causing necrosis and bleeding of hepatocytes and bile duct hyperplasia, and has obvious carcinogenic effect.
Aspergillus flavus is a common dominant mold in warm regions. The growth temperature range is 4 ~ 50, the optimum growth temperature is 25 ~ 40, the lowest temperature for aflatoxin formation is 5 ~ 12, the highest temperature is 45, and the optimum temperature is 20 ~ 30.
Is it true that "frozen steamed bread can't be eaten, but aflatoxin can cause cancer"?
Kai Zhong, deputy director of Kexin Food and Nutrition Information Exchange Center, said: It is not reliable to say that steamed bread will produce aflatoxin if it is frozen in the refrigerator for three days.
The refrigeration temperature of the refrigerator is about 4~6 degrees, which can reduce the relative dryness of the environment, so this temperature is not suitable for the growth and reproduction of rabies virus, so aflatoxin will not be produced. As long as the steamed bread is not hairy and moldy during storage and cooked at high temperature, there should be no food safety problems.
What the refrigerator should really pay attention to is Listeria.
Listeria is a ubiquitous fungus in nature, which is not easily killed by environmental factors such as freezing and thawing and strong light. Listeria can exist in soil, rotten vegetables, sewage, rivers and waterways and feed, and is often carried by people and animals.
The Global Health Council once conducted a family health survey in Australia, Canada, the United States and other countries. The results showed that in 96% of the family comparisons, the bacteria exceeded the standard, especially Listeria, Escherichia coli and Salmonella. Although the refrigerator can maintain a low-temperature sealed environment, if food rots, bacteria can also multiply in it, especially Listeria, which has a particularly strong viability and can survive for a long time in an environment of 0~4 degrees.
After being infected with Listeria monocytogenes, flu-like symptoms such as nausea and vomiting, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, abdominal pain, constipation and persistent fever will appear within 3 to 70 days, and in severe cases, meningitis or leukemia may occur, which is life-threatening.
For the sake of health, the refrigerator at home should be cleaned regularly, especially the processed food such as leftovers, which should be fully heated before eating, especially for children, pregnant women and elderly people with low immunity, and food safety should be ensured.