Does "overnight food" mean food that has been left overnight? Not necessarily! It is best not to leave these two foods overnight →

It is said that "thrift is a traditional virtue of the Chinese nation", but when faced with leftovers at home, many people are in a dilemma. Throw it away, it's a pity, and heat it up the next day. Words like "excessive nitrite", "carcinogenic" and "poisoning" make people worry...

Are overnight dishes dishes that have been left overnight?

Which dishes should be thrown away without hesitation?

Which ones can be saved for the next meal?

How should we deal with overnight food scientifically?

Let’s take a look together

Are leftovers poisonous and carcinogenic?

First of all, we need to make it clear that the so-called "overnight food" does not simply refer to the food left over from the day of the meal and left for the next day. Scientifically speaking, food that has been left for more than 8-10 hours is considered overnight food.

The longer the food is stored, the higher the nitrite content will be. Many people are always worried that eating food will cause nitrite poisoning or even cancer. Is this really the case?

01

Nitrite itself is not carcinogenic

In fact, nitrite itself is not carcinogenic. It is widely present in the natural environment, especially in food. For example, the average nitrite content in vegetables is about 4 mg/kg, meat is about 3 mg/kg, and eggs are about 5 mg/kg. After being picked and harvested, vegetables and fruits will continue to produce nitrite.

In addition, nitrite is also a food preservative that can be used legally. As long as it is within the national food safety standards, there is no health risk.

02 Does the nitrite content in overnight dishes exceed the standard?

According to relevant domestic research reports, the minimum toxic dose of oral nitrite for adults is about 300mg-500mg, and ingestion of 1-3g can cause death.

What does this mean? Generally speaking, overnight food stored in the refrigerator for 24 hours (excluding pickled vegetables and processed meat) will not contain more than 10 mg/kg of nitrite.

(Photo source: Healthy Hubei)

Therefore, the nitrite content in overnight food is far from the toxic dose. It is not a big problem to eat a little occasionally. There is no need to be afraid of overnight food. The key is the frequency and amount of eating.

It's best to throw away these uneaten ones.

So, can we eat leftover food without any worries? No!

During the storage and reheating of overnight food, not only will some nutrients be destroyed and lost, but it will also easily breed bacteria. In particular, the following two types of overnight food are more harmful to the body and should be thrown away if not finished:

Overnight seafood

It is difficult to completely eliminate the various bacteria that may exist in seafood products such as shrimps and crabs using general cooking and eating methods. If they are not finished on the same day and eaten overnight, the bacteria may multiply and produce bacterial toxins, leading to damage to the liver and kidney functions.

Overnight Tremella Mushroom

Many people will stew a pot of Tremella soup and put it in the refrigerator to eat several times. But this practice is actually very dangerous!

Generally speaking, if dried white fungus and mushrooms are soaked for too long at room temperature, or left for a long time after being cooked, not only will the nitrosamine content increase after consumption, but improper storage will also produce bacterium toxins, which will cause abdominal pain, diarrhea and other symptoms after eating .

Leftovers should be stored scientifically

It is best to cook as much food as you can eat. If you cook too much and cannot finish it, you can follow the following 4 points to deal with the leftovers:

It is better to have leftovers than vegetables. When there are leftovers in a meal, vegetables should be eaten first, and the leftover meat and vegetables can be saved for the next meal. For details, please refer to the following storage time ranking:

Green leafy vegetables: storage time 0 days (salad vegetables should be eaten as soon as possible);

Staple food: storage time 1 to 2 days;

Meat dishes from livestock and poultry: The storage time shall not exceed 3 days.

Don't wait until it's completely cold before putting it in the refrigerator . The longer leftovers are left at room temperature, the greater the risk of bacteria growth. Therefore, wait until the dishes are cool enough to be not hot to the touch before putting them in the refrigerator, don't wait until they are completely cold before putting them in.

The location of leftovers in the refrigerator is also crucial

① The upper layer of the refrigerator area: leftovers and other cooked food can be placed;

②The middle of the refrigerated area: suitable for fruits and vegetables;

③The constant temperature refrigerated area at the bottom: can be used to store eggs, dairy products, soy products and meat to be eaten that day.

Keeping raw and cooked food separate can prevent parasites and bacteria carried in raw food from falling onto cooked food such as leftovers when eating, thereby reducing the risk of cross infection.

Reheat leftovers thoroughly before eating . Especially meat, reheat thoroughly before eating. Reheat thoroughly means heating the whole dish to 100℃ and keeping it boiling for more than 3 minutes.

To avoid uneven heating, you can use tools such as chopsticks and forks to look inside the food to make sure it is heated thoroughly before taking it out of the pot.