Nitrite poisoning from hot pot? Rumor!

First, we prepared clear soup hot pot base, cabbage, spinach, meatballs, shrimp balls, beef and mutton slices, etc., and bought a nitrite rapid test tube with good sales and reputation. After boiling for 10 minutes, 1 hour and 1.5 hours, we served the hot pot soup and marked it with numbers 1, 2 and 3. By reacting with the reagent in the rapid test tube and comparing it with the colorimetric card, we found that the corresponding values ​​of rapid test tubes 1, 2 and 3 were 0.1 mg/L, 0.5 mg/L and 1 mg/L respectively.

The first snow in early winter caused the temperature in the island city to drop significantly, and steaming and delicious hot pot became the first choice for many citizens to keep warm. However, it is said on the Internet that long-term cooking of hot pot will produce a large amount of nitrite, which has the risk of causing cancer, making some citizens embarrassed to eat or not. For this reason, our reporter specially purchased a rapid test tube for rapid detection of nitrite, and prepared clear soup base, vegetables, meat and other ingredients to cook hot pot for experiments. Comparing the rapid test results with the colorimetric card, it was found that the nitrite content of the hot pot soup was about 1 mg/L, which is equivalent to the limit standard of drinking water under the current national standard. According to this initial test result, if the human body reaches the poisoning amount of nitrite of 200 mg, it is almost necessary to drink 200 liters of hot pot soup at a time.
Worry: Hot pot nitrite is carcinogenic
In winter, if there is a pot of steaming hot pot, it is an extremely pleasant thing. When some citizens were about to pick up their chopsticks and eat, they glanced at the health warning information circulating on the Internet and hesitated again: "Don't just indulge in hot pot in winter and ignore your health. There are carcinogenic nitrites in hot pot. Do you still dare to eat it?" Although there is no definite evidence for these news, they still put some citizens in a dilemma. The reporter searched online and found that there are many online posts with similar statements, and they have attracted the attention of many netizens. There are many messages and comments under each online post.
Faced with this statement, many netizens chose to "believe it", saying that hot pot is originally a heavy oil, spicy, and hodgepodge style of eating, which poses a hidden danger to health. Another netizen wrote a doggerel: "Hot pot is precious, but life is more valuable. If it is for health, hot pot can also be thrown away."
And more netizens continue to support their favorite hot pot, saying that the information circulated on the Internet lacks evidence and the views are not credible. "I have been a professional hotpot eater for decades, so wouldn't I be terminally ill a long time ago? If hotpot causes cancer, can I say it's because of my 'craving for cancer'?" However, regarding the cloudy and greasy tail soup after eating hotpot, most netizens unanimously believe that this tail soup is not suitable for tasting and will increase the burden on health.

Experiment: The longer the hot pot is cooked, the greasy and turbid the soup becomes
As a "magic weapon" to keep warm in winter, hot pot has caused a lot of netizens to worry about safety online. Is it true that the hot pot contains nitrite and can cause cancer as stated in the online post? The reporter decided to test it himself.
On the 25th, the reporter purchased hot pot base, vegetables, meat, seafood and other ingredients from the supermarket, and purchased a nitrite rapid test tube with good sales and reputation from a large e-commerce platform through the recommendation of a professional testing agency in advance, turning the restaurant at home into a laboratory temporarily. The ingredients purchased are all popular varieties for family hot pot. The reporter purchased clear soup hot pot base, vegetables including cabbage, lettuce, spinach, enoki mushrooms, in addition to tofu puffs, meatballs, shrimp balls and beef and mutton slices.
After cleaning the ingredients, the hot pot soup with the base ingredients also boiled. At 7:45 p.m., meatballs and shrimp balls were first added to the hot pot and cooked for a few minutes, and then some green vegetables were added. After cooking for 10 minutes, the reporter used a glass water cup to scoop out the hot pot soup, marked it and put it aside. During the hot pot, as various ingredients were added, the reporter scooped out the hot pot soup after the hot pot was cooked for 1 hour and 1.5 hours respectively. The three water cups were marked with time and numbers 1, 2, and 3 respectively. After standing for a while, the reporter found that the color of the hot pot soup in the three water cups was different according to the length of time. The hot pot soup at 10 minutes was the lightest in color and relatively clear after standing. The hot pot soup scooped out after 1 hour was darker in color and the soup looked a little turbid, while the hot pot soup scooped out after 1.5 hours was the darkest in color, with a layer of oil floating on the surface, which looked greasy and turbid.
Data: Drinking 200 liters of soup at a time will cause nitrite poisoning. According to the instructions for use of nitrite rapid test tubes, nitrite in food will react with the reagent in the rapid test tube to form a purple-red special substance. By comparing with the colorimetric card, it can be determined whether the nitrite in the sample exceeds the standard. The reporter took 1 ml of each of the three relatively clear liquid samples and added them to the rapid test tube, covered the lid, and shook the reagent to dissolve. After 10 minutes, it was found that the colors of the three rapid test tubes had changed. Among them, the hot pot soup in the No. 1 rapid test tube had a slightly purple-red color, the purple-red color in the No. 2 rapid test tube was a little deeper than that of the No. 1, and the color of the sample in the No. 3 rapid test tube changed to purple-red most obviously. By carefully comparing with the colorimetric card, the reporter found that the corresponding value of the No. 1 rapid test tube was 0.1 mg/L, the corresponding value of the No. 2 rapid test tube was 0.5 mg/L, and the corresponding value of the No. 3 rapid test tube was 1 mg/L. According to the current "National Food Safety Standard for the Use of Food Additives" (GB2760-2014), the limit of nitrite in drinking water is ≤1 mg/L, that is, the nitrite detection amount of hot pot soup in the No. 3 rapid test tube is equivalent to the limit of drinking water.
Reporters learned that the main component of nitrite is sodium nitrite, which is white to light yellow powder or granules, slightly salty and soluble in water. Its appearance and taste are similar to table salt, and it is widely used in industry and construction. It is also allowed to be used as a colorant in meat products. Under the same food standard, the limit of nitrite in salt and milk powder consumed by citizens on a daily basis is ≤2 mg/kg, fresh meat, fresh fish, grains ≤3 mg/kg, vegetables ≤4 mg/kg, pickled vegetables ≤20 mg/kg, ham and sausages ≤30 mg/kg, and canned meat ≤50 mg/kg.
When the human body ingests a large dose of nitrite, it can cause hemoglobin in the body to form methemoglobin and lose its oxygen transport capacity, leading to hypoxia in human tissues. If 200 mg to 500 mg is ingested, poisoning symptoms such as vomiting, abdominal pain, and breathing difficulties will appear within 10 minutes, and more than 3 grams can be fatal. However, according to the data measured by the reporter, to reach a poisoning dose of 200 mg, according to the highest value of 1 mg/L, you would have to drink almost 200 liters of hot pot soup to reach this dose.

How to eat hot pot more healthily? In this regard, Fan Zhihong gave some suggestions to hot pot lovers. First, the nitrite content of hot pot with different soup bases varies greatly. Compared with sauerkraut and seafood soup bases with higher nitrite content, clear soup, bone soup, and mandarin duck soup are safer. Secondly, different foods in hot pot contain different amounts of nitrite. For example, seafood and pickled vegetables with high nitrite content should be more careful when drinking soup after hot pot. In addition, citizens should eat more fresh vegetables when eating hot pot, and vegetables should not be cooked for a long time. If you want to drink soup, don't drink the tail soup after hot pot, but drink the first soup within half an hour after hot pot. After a full meal of hot pot, the next meal must be lighter, eat more coarse grains, and try to supplement dietary fiber, vitamin C, and antioxidant health care ingredients that are beneficial to cancer prevention.
Experts say that compared with the nitrite in hot pot soup, there is more purine in hot pot soup. "Animal offal, beef, mutton, seafood and other foods contain a lot of purine, which will continue to dissolve and accumulate in the hot pot soup during cooking. Excessive purine is harmful to gout patients. It is recommended that citizens eat small hot pots when eating hot pot. Everyone can control the type and quantity of ingredients according to their needs, and it is more hygienic."