Black fungus, a familiar ingredient to everyone, is extremely nutritious and has health-preserving effects. However, improper consumption can easily lead to poisoning. How can you tell if black fungus is good or bad? Let's find out together.
The "sugar" added to black fungus is actually magnesium sulfate!
Mr. Zhang, who lives in the western district of Zhongshan City, often buys dried black fungus to cook at home. However, the black fungus he recently bought from a stall on Ganglong South Road made him feel something was wrong. It felt heavier than the black fungus he had bought before and had a strange sour smell, making him wonder if it was problematic. After being tested by a professional food and drug inspection agency, the results were shocking—the so-called "white sugar" was actually magnesium sulfate, which is harmful to the human body! Magnesium sulfate is an inorganic chemical product used in medicine to prepare protective ointments, laxatives, analgesics, and antidotes. It is also used in leather tanning, fertilizer production, and industrial wastewater treatment.
Magnesium is a nutrient in the human body, and magnesium sulfate is used medically to cleanse the intestines, for example, before intestinal surgery or examination to induce diarrhea. However, it cannot be used as a food additive. If the intake of magnesium sulfate is too high, it can corrode mucous membranes, causing symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, and can even worsen damage to the kidneys and liver. On the other hand, using magnesium sulfate to increase the weight of black fungus is already illegal.
How to identify good black fungus
1. Look: High-quality black fungus is large and thin, with a black and seemingly translucent front side and a white back side with a layer of fine fluff. If both the front and back are very black with nearly uniform color, it is of poor quality. Black fungus that is shiny black and the color cannot be washed off is toxic. If the color can be washed off with water, it is artificially colored. Adulterated black fungus is thick, and the pieces often stick together.
2. Touch: High-quality black fungus feels dry, is light in weight, thin, and brittle, breaking easily when touched. Adulterated black fungus feels moist and is heavier. If it is thick and hard, like a block of wood, it has been artificially processed, such as sugar-soaked or salt-soaked black fungus, and is heavier.
3. Taste: High-quality black fungus has a fresh, pleasant taste without any strange flavors. If it has a salty taste, it has been soaked in salt water, so-called "salt fungus," to increase its weight for profit. A sweet taste means it has been mixed with sugar water, i.e., "sugar fungus." A bitter taste means it has been soaked in alum water, which is very harmful. If the black fungus becomes soft and mushy or "oozes" after being stir-fried or stewed, it contains preservatives and its cellulose has been destroyed. Good black fungus has a smooth, soft, and delicate texture. Poor-quality black fungus has a rough, hard, and unpleasant texture.
What are the benefits of good black fungus?
1. A great beauty product
Black fungus is rich in protein, with a content comparable to animal foods, earning it the reputation of "the meat among vegetables." It also has a very high content of vitamin E, making it excellent for whitening the skin. Most importantly, it has the highest iron content of any food. When it comes to iron supplementation, people often think of spinach, lean meat, and animal liver, but in fact, black fungus has the highest iron content of all foods—more than 20 times that of spinach and over 7 times that of pork liver. Therefore, it is an excellent food source for nourishing beauty and blood, and for preventing iron-deficiency anemia.
2. Weight loss, detoxification, and preventing stones
Black fungus is rich in cellulose and a special plant collagen. These two substances promote gastrointestinal motility, prevent constipation, help the timely removal and excretion of toxic substances from the body, and can help dissolve certain endogenous foreign bodies like gallstones and kidney stones. For those with initial cholecystitis and stones, eating 1-2 servings of black fungus daily can relieve symptoms such as pain and nausea/vomiting within 2-5 days.
3. A high-quality natural blood tonic
Nutritionists praise black fungus as "the meat among vegetables" and "the king of vegetables." Every 100 grams of black fungus contains 185 mg of iron. This is 20 times higher than the iron content in spinach, the highest among green leafy vegetables, and about 7 times higher than that in pork liver, the highest among animal-based foods. It has the highest iron content of all foods, both meat and vegetable.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, black fungus is considered sweet and neutral in nature, with the effects of cooling the blood and stopping bleeding. It is used to treat conditions such as hemoptysis, hematemesis, epistaxis, dysentery, uterine bleeding, hemorrhoid bleeding, and blood in the stool. Because of its high iron content, it can replenish the body's iron supply in a timely manner, making it a natural blood tonic food.
4. Preventing cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases
Black fungus contains vitamin K and rich minerals such as calcium and magnesium, which can reduce blood clots and prevent conditions like thrombosis. It also has a preventive effect on atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease.
Black fungus has the effect of promoting blood circulation and preventing clotting, so people with bleeding disorders should not eat it. Pregnant women should not eat too much of it.
How to safely consume black fungus
Black fungus is delicious and nutritious and has been a prized food since ancient times, known for aiding digestion and being beneficial for patients with high blood pressure. However, correct and safe consumption is the prerequisite for enjoying its deliciousness.
(1) Fresh black fungus should not be eaten. This is because fresh black fungus contains a substance called "porphyrin." After consuming fresh black fungus and being exposed to sunlight, it can cause phytophotodermatitis, leading to skin itching, redness, swelling, and pain. Therefore, black fungus must be sun-dried to decompose the porphyrin before being sold and consumed as a dried product.
(2) Before eating dried black fungus, it needs to be soaked and washed. It is best to soak it in warm water to shorten the soaking time. After soaking, rinse it two to three times under running water to remove impurities and harmful substances to the greatest extent.
(3) Soak an appropriate amount. If you soak too much black fungus, you can refrigerate it for up to 24 hours. After 24 hours, regardless of whether it has spoiled or not, it must be thrown away.
During the summer, high temperatures and improper food storage can easily lead to spoilage, which is a high-incidence period for bacterial toxin poisoning. Food must be freshly cooked, and leftovers should be thrown away. Avoid street vendors and pay attention to food hygiene to maximize the prevention of acute biological toxin poisoning incidents.