Healthy Dining Out for the Spring Festival
Introduction: During the Spring Festival holiday, dining out is most frequent. Experts remind us that there is much to learn when ordering and taking home leftovers, and many overlooked details in these practices can pose a threat to your health.
Healthy Dining Out for the Spring Festival
When ordering, choose fewer fried, smoked, and pickled dishes, and avoid canned foods. During the Spring Festival, many families enjoy dining out for their reunion dinner. Many dishes in restaurants, such as various mushrooms and out-of-season expensive foods, are often made from canned products. Canned foods contain preservatives, which are harmful to health if consumed in large quantities. Furthermore, some seafood, chicken feet, and chicken wings may be treated with formaldehyde. It is best to avoid chicken wings, chicken legs, or seafood that appear unnaturally large and white. If the wood ear fungus in a dish is white, it has been treated with sulfur; normal wood ear fungus is pale yellow. Similarly, if candied dates appear transparent, they have also been treated with sulfur.
In addition, in the process of making fried foods, oil may be reused to save costs, leading to an increased amount of the carcinogen acrylamide. Smoked foods like smoked fish and meat, especially those smoked over a fire, produce dioxins, a class of carcinogens, during the smoking process. It is also wise to eat less of these foods.
Many people enjoy hot pot during the Spring Festival, whether at home or out. When boiling meats like lamb slices, a layer of foam will form on the surface of the hot pot. This foam must be skimmed off promptly, especially if it is yellow or black, as it often contains hormones from animal feed and hormones released by animals near death. Additionally, never drink the broth after cooking, no matter how delicious it may seem. As many foods have been cooked in it, harmful substances are left in the broth.
When taking home leftovers, avoid disposable chopsticks and bring your own utensils. Many diners prefer disposable chopsticks over the regular ones provided by restaurants, fearing that the regular ones may not be thoroughly disinfected. However, there are currently no safety standards for chopsticks in China. In the manufacturing process of disposable chopsticks, sulfur fumigation and chemical soaking are often used to make them appear whiter and cleaner, and they are also polished with paraffin. Therefore, be cautious when using very white and smooth disposable chopsticks; if you must use them, scald them with boiling water first.
After you are full, what should you do with the leftovers on the table? Experts suggest bringing your own containers for packing leftovers, as not all restaurants guarantee the quality of their takeout boxes. The safest packing containers are transparent plastic boxes, as they are made of pure plastic materials. If the bottom of the box has a triangle with a "5" inside and "PP" (the abbreviation for polypropylene) written below, it is safe for microwave use. Over 80% of white biodegradable boxes are counterfeit. Many boxes labeled "biodegradable" on the market are actually unsafe. A qualified container will feel hard to the touch, will not tear easily, and will not leak when holding food. An unqualified one will do the opposite.
Finally, you can tear a piece of the container and throw it in water. If it floats, it means the container is made of pure plastic with a specific gravity of about 0.93, which is less than that of water, making it a合格 product. If it sinks, it means harmful substances like paraffin have been added. Such不合格 containers can release many harmful substances when holding oily or highly acidic foods or when heated in a microwave.