Currently, some individual operators use sulfur fumigation on tremella and bamboo shoots to make their color more appealing, but this causes excessive sulfur dioxide, which is harmful to health. Some flour manufacturers use a bleaching agent called benzoyl peroxide to achieve a significant whitening effect for the flour.
The China Food Additive Committee stipulates that the maximum allowable dose of benzoyl peroxide in flour is 0.06g/kg, but some manufacturers far exceed this limit. Consuming flour with excessive bleaching agent will inevitably affect your health. Below, we will teach you several methods to identify bleached foods.
How to identify bleached walnuts?
When selecting walnuts, it's generally best to choose those with a fresh and lustrous color (fresh brown is optimal) and a heavier feel. Bleached walnuts have a very white surface but lack any luster. Although walnut shells are hard, if they have been soaked in chemicals, the kernel inside can also become contaminated. Therefore, try to avoid choosing walnuts with a coffee-brown color.
How to choose unbleached pistachios?
Many people love to eat pistachios, but many are unaware that most of the white pistachios sold on the market are not very healthy. Many consumers, when buying pistachios, prefer to pick those with a pure white color.
However, relevant authorities have found that some manufacturers, to cater to the preferences of certain consumers, actually use industrial hydrogen peroxide to bleach pistachios. This can cause significant harm to the body.
Unbleached pistachios have naturally shiny shells and kernels with a natural light green color. For pistachio kernels, green is fresher than yellow, and the natural color of the pistachio itself is a yellowish-brown skin. The best pistachios have a purple skin covering the kernel.
Generally, larger pistachios have a better texture and are more chewy than smaller ones. Good pistachios have a natural split in the shell, which occurs as the kernel matures and expands. In contrast, some artificially split pistachios have large shells but small kernels, making them inferior in quality.
How to choose unbleached ginger?
Ginger is an indispensable aromatic seasoning in dishes, but not everyone knows how to select it. Many people prefer to choose ginger that looks light in color and clean, but then find it has a strange taste when eaten. Experts suggest: when buying ginger, don't just look at the exterior. Ginger that is bright yellow and has a smooth skin has often been fumigated with sulfur. Good ginger has a visible texture on its skin, which is relatively coarse, and a pale yellow color. A little green tip is not a problem.
How to choose unbleached tremella (silver ear mushroom)?
On the market, some vendors sell tremella that has been fumigated with sulfur. These mushrooms are much whiter than usual. Some consumers believe the whiter the tremella, the better, but this view is incorrect. On one hand, this fumigated tremella does not rehydrate well and is difficult to cook until soft; on the other hand, during the sulfur fumigation process, small amounts of arsenic and its oxides from the sulfur can seep into the tremella. Once these harmful substances are ingested, they can endanger your health. Therefore, you must never buy sulfur-fumigated tremella. Also, do not eat any spoiled tremella that has a sour, musty, or rotten smell, as it can cause poisoning.
When selecting tremella, choose large, light, yellowish-white, glossy mushrooms with thick gelatin. Additionally, pay attention to the moisture content; if it's too damp, it can easily mold and is not suitable for storage, and if it's too dry, it can crumble easily. For storage, it should be sealed, not stored in a lime jar, otherwise it will not expand properly when cooked. Typically, high-quality tremella, after being soaked, becomes fine, soft, smooth, and elastic. Inferior tremello, after soaking, may have hard centers in addition to the soft and elastic outer layer, so be careful to distinguish it.