Eating potato chips is like eating car exhaust
Opening a bag of potato chips that exudes a tempting aroma, it's hard not to be lured by their golden, crispy exterior. Pick up one and put it in your mouth; with a "crunch," the unique fragrance of potatoes immediately fills your mouth, and that satisfying feeling will be transmitted all the way to your brain. You can also dip them in ketchup, chili sauce, or barbecue sauce, mixing the potato aroma with sour, spicy, and meaty flavors to fully satisfy your appetite. A bag of potato chips is instantly finished off.
However, no desire is satisfied without a price. On television, a nutritionist from Taiwan once lit a potato chip with a lighter. As a puff of black smoke emerged, a single small chip burned for over a minute, with streams of oil dripping out. This nutritionist said: When a potato becomes a potato chip, its calories increase 250 times! Can we still dare to eat fried potato chips?
Eating potato chips is like eating car exhaust!
Recently, a popular post has been shocking! A message was broadcast on the morning news of a Japanese television station: Potato chips contain acrylamide, which is highly carcinogenic!
Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has detected high concentrations of acrylamide, considered carcinogenic, in potato chips. Previously, the Swedish government found that foods rich in carbohydrates, when processed by baking or frying, generate acrylamide, which has carcinogenic effects. Countries like the UK, France, and the US, which commonly eat fried potato products as snacks, have all conducted tests and reached the same conclusion.
In the International Agency for Research on Cancer's (IARC) 5-level classification of carcinogenic substances, acrylamide is listed in Group 2, indicating a high carcinogenicity. In IARC's 5-level classification, the most dangerous is Group 1, which are confirmed carcinogens, followed by Groups 2A and 2B, which have a higher carcinogenic potential. Group 1 includes coal tar, asbestos, chewing tobacco, and cadmium; Group 2A includes acrylamide, creosote (used as a wood preservative), and car exhaust. The acrylamide in potato chips and car exhaust are toxic substances that are equally harmful to the human body, so some people say that eating potato chips is like eating car exhaust!
In addition, potato chips contain excessive aluminum. Long-term consumption of puffed foods with high aluminum content can cause nervous system disorders, manifested as memory loss, impaired visual and motor coordination, and in severe cases, dementia. Excessive aluminum intake in the human body can also inhibit bone formation, leading to conditions like osteomalacia.
The Four Sins of Fried Potato Chips
Trans fatty acids: Crispy foods like fried potato chips use hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated shortening in their processing, which are trans fatty acids. The human body has difficulty digesting and absorbing trans fatty acids, which can raise triglycerides and "bad" cholesterol in the blood while lowering "good" cholesterol, thereby increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease. Manufacturers favor hydrogenated oil because it can extend a product's shelf life and make food more crispy and delicious. Hydrogenated oil containing trans fatty acids is also low-cost.
Trans fatty acids can also affect the absorption of essential fatty acids in adolescents during their growth and development period, adversely impacting the development of their central nervous systems.
Acrylamide: Also known as "acrylamide," it is a carcinogen. Crispy foods that are fried or baked generally contain acrylamide. In the UK, with the discovery of the link between acrylamide and cancer, many families have banned crispy foods.
In 2002, scientists at Stockholm University in Sweden reported that 1 kilogram of french fries contains 400 micrograms of acrylamide. Germany stipulates that the acrylamide content in drinking water cannot exceed 0.1 micrograms per liter; the acrylamide in french fries far exceeds this limit!
Long-term, low-dose exposure to acrylamide can cause symptoms such as drowsiness, changes in mood and memory, hallucinations, and tremors, accompanied by peripheral nerve disorders such as sweating and muscle weakness. High levels of acrylamide can cause animals to develop reproductive system cancers.
Fat: The fat content in potato chips is as high as 35%. Yu Kang, Deputy Director of the Nutrition Department at Peking Union Medical College Hospital, pointed out that frequent consumption of crispy foods can raise blood lipids, leading to obesity and an increased risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and diabetes. Children in their growth period, in particular, can not only become obese from excessive consumption but also increase their risk of developing these conditions in adulthood.
Sugar: The refined sugar and refined starch in fried potato chips are carbohydrates, which are sugar. They provide only calories and no nutrition. Eating too much can increase the chances of obesity and "three highs" (high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and high blood lipids). The problem with fried potato chips also lies in their production process and the added ingredients used for flavoring, such as flavor enhancers, sweeteners, and colorings.
Expert Clarification
Fried potato chips do the most harm to young children and the elderly
Because the elderly have slower metabolisms and children's bodies are still developing, their detoxification abilities are poorer. For these two groups, long-term consumption of fried foods containing acrylamide makes it difficult for toxins to be expelled, posing the greatest health risk. People with chronic diseases such as hyperlipidemia, hypertension, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and diabetes must refuse crispy foods like fried potato chips.
Similar "crispy hazards" also exist in everyday cooking. In recent years, a popular dish in restaurants is made by shredding potatoes into fine strips, frying them, and seasoning them into a tall tower, which is essentially no different from fried potato chips. Also, traditional snacks like "paicha" (fried dough twists), sanzi, and small fried dough twists.
Eating fried potato chips in moderation will not affect health
Recently, there have indeed been many negative reports internationally on crispy foods, mainly fried potato chips. In fact, as early as 2006, the Ministry of Health also issued a public notice warning that starchy foods are prone to produce acrylamide when cooked at high temperatures above 120°C, which may harm human health. It is recommended that the public avoid continuous, long-term, or high-temperature cooking of starchy foods and change their eating habits, which are dominated by fried and high-fat foods, to reduce acrylamide intake.
However, consumers don't need to be terrified of fried potato chips. Many people in Western countries eat this kind of food every day, while the consumption of fried potato chips among Chinese consumers is relatively much lower.
Whether eating a certain food leads to disease depends on the amount of intake. For example, in an experiment, rats were continuously fed acrylamide at a rate of 2 milligrams per kilogram of body weight, and as a result, the rats successively developed lung cancer or breast cancer. Converting this ratio to humans, assuming a body weight of 60 kilograms, it would be equivalent to ingesting 120 milligrams of acrylamide per day. In the tested potato chips with the highest acrylamide content, there are about 3.5 milligrams per kilogram. In other words, you would need to eat 34 kilograms of potato chips continuously every day to reach this cancer threshold. Most potato chips on the market are sold in bags of about 100 grams each, meaning you would have to eat 340 bags a day to have a high probability of getting cancer. In fact, no one would eat this way.
The Past and Present of Fried Potato Chips
Potatoes are known as the "second bread" in Europe and America. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that potatoes have the effect of strengthening the spleen and stomach and promoting bowel movements; potatoes are rich in dietary fiber, making them an ideal food for weight loss; potatoes are rich in potassium, which can reduce the incidence of stroke. However, potatoes are completely changed by frying. High-temperature frying destroys the protein, vitamins, and minerals in potatoes, turning them from a healthy food into junk food. A small bag of potato snacks has 263 calories, a medium one 479 calories, and a large one 605 calories. The calorie count of a regular hamburger is between 248 and 526 calories. Fried potato chips, composite potato chips, and frozen french fries are currently the three main types of potato snack foods on the market. The global annual sales of fried potato chips have exceeded 20 billion US dollars.
The World Says NO to Crispy Foods Like Fried Potato Chips!
UK: Setting new standards for school meals
The UK government has stipulated that junk food like fried potato chips is prohibited from being served in school lunches. The provision of any fried food is limited to no more than two servings per week.
The UK Food Standards Agency estimates that food manufacturers spend 285 million pounds a year on advertising for "junk food." The "brand effect" of fast food advertising seriously affects children's dietary preferences, causing them to be picky eaters. Many parents say that telling a child 100 times not to eat "junk food" is not as effective as a football star saying in a potato chip ad, "It tastes great!" To prevent the spread of childhood obesity in the UK, on November 15, 2004, the UK government published the "Public Health White Paper," banning television stations from broadcasting "junk food" ads during the prime time slot from 6 PM to 9 PM.
In less than a year, sales of crispy foods in the UK have significantly decreased, with people replacing them with dried fruits, nuts, or grains.
USA: Requiring "Carcinogen" Warning Labels
Bill Lockyer, the Attorney General of California, sued more than ten well-known fast-food chains and food manufacturers, requiring the court to force them to use warning labels to indicate the content of the carcinogen "acrylamide" in their french fries and potato chips. This was the first time a US prosecutor had filed a lawsuit regarding the issue of acrylamide in french fries.
According to US law, companies must "clearly and reasonably" inform the public about potentially dangerous substances in their products. Lockyer emphasized that he was not urging people not to eat french fries, because the temptation of french fries is "hard to resist," but consumers have the right to know that the french fries they eat contain excessive amounts of carcinogens.
The lawsuit specifically targets acrylamide. They claim that scientific evidence shows that high levels of acrylamide can cause experimental animals to develop reproductive system cancers. Since 1990, California law has listed it as a carcinogen. In 2002, Swedish scientists confirmed that starchy foods like potatoes produce excessive acrylamide when fried at high temperatures. However, most Americans still love french fries and potato chips and may not be aware of this information.
Lockyer cited data from the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, stating that the acrylamide content in french fries from fast-food restaurants averages 125 times the level that requires a legal warning; the acrylamide content in potato chips sold in supermarkets is 75 times the warning level.
The WHO and the Food and Agriculture Organization pointed out in an expert meeting in 2002: Animal tests show that acrylamide is a carcinogen. Although there is no evidence yet that it causes cancer in humans, it is well-known that it damages the human nervous system.
A report in the International Journal of Cancer in the USA stated that high levels of acrylamide pose a cancer risk.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has also gotten involved, testing this chemical substance in food.
Hong Kong: Carcinogens found in 103 types of snacks like potato chips and french fries
The Hong Kong Consumer Council and the Centre for Food Safety tested 103 fried, baked, and roasted snack foods and 10 beverages made by baking, and found that all samples contained the carcinogen acrylamide to varying degrees. Potato chips, french fries, crisps, cookies, and taro foods had relatively high levels. "Vitasoy," a major supplier of snacks to Hong Kong school canteens, introduced a new policy to "completely ban" the sale of unhealthy snacks like potato chips and shrimp strips in the 300 schools it serves.