Carcinogenic? Loss of nutrients? Air fryers are in trouble...

◎ Comprehensive report by Wang Yu of Science and Technology Daily

Yesterday evening

“Experts do not recommend using air fryers frequently”

Rushed to the top of the hot search

In an interview with Jiangsu Satellite TV,

Expert introduction↓↓↓

Air fryers use rapidly circulating hot air to cook food. If the food contains reducing sugars such as glucose and fructose and proteins, a certain amount of harmful carcinogens such as acrylamide will be produced when processed at high temperatures. In addition, many nutrients will be lost under high temperatures. Fat-soluble vitamins such as vitamins A, D, E, and K need to be combined with oil to be released. Long-term intake of too little edible oil can easily lead to insufficient intake of unsaturated fatty acids, which in turn induces a series of diseases.

What's going on?

Known as "blow up the sky, the earth, and everything"

Many people regard it as a representative of "healthy eating"

Do air fryers really cause cancer?

How does an air fryer work?

Traditional frying uses the vaporization of oil at high temperature to remove moisture from the surface of food, while conducting heat from the outside to the inside to cook the food.

There is a food baking heater on the top of the air fryer, which can quickly heat the air in the pot, and then with the help of a high-power fan, it generates high-temperature and rapidly circulating vortex heat flow in the confined space of the fryer.

Simply put, it is to use hot air to replace traditional animal and vegetable oils, allowing air to "fry" food.

Zhu Yi, associate professor at the College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering of China Agricultural University, explained: The baking tray inside the air fryer is usually placed in the middle of the fryer, leaving a certain amount of space above and below. In this way, under the action of the fan, the circulating hot air can achieve all-round contact with the surface of the food.

The hot air continuously heats the food and can even "force" out the fat contained in the oily ingredients themselves, making the food cooked and the surface browned, giving the food a "fried" crispy and crunchy taste.

Do air fryers produce acrylamide, a carcinogen?

Fan Zhihong, associate professor of the Department of Nutrition and Health at China Agricultural University, said that no matter what kind of pot, as long as the food is overheated, carcinogens will be produced. Whether it is an air fryer, an oven, or a cooking pan, it will not produce excessive carcinogens if used correctly.

Fan Zhihong said that the harmful substances produced by heating mainly include: polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons carcinogens produced by high heat of oils and fats; trans fatty acids and other harmful substances produced by long-term high-temperature heating of oils and fats; heterocyclic amine carcinogens produced by overheating of protein amino acids; and acrylamide substances produced in the Maillard reaction.

Among them, acrylamide, as a Class 2A carcinogen, has been proven to cause cancer in animals, but there is limited evidence of its carcinogenicity to humans. Moreover, acrylamide is not only produced when using an air fryer. Fan Zhihong said that acrylamide substances begin to be produced in small quantities above 120 degrees Celsius. In particular, the production peak is reached at 160-180 degrees Celsius. This temperature is exactly the right temperature for baking and frying food.

(Copyrighted image from the gallery, no permission to reprint)

Is the air fryer healthier than traditional deep frying?

Fan Zhihong said that when cooking with frying, all four types of harmful substances will be produced. When cooking with an air fryer, if the temperature is controlled properly and not overheated, then only the last type of acrylamide is worthy of attention.

Registered dietitian Gu Zhongyi believes that from the perspective of using less oil and controlling the temperature, in theory, air fryers are healthier. Compared with real frying with oil, air fryers can reduce oil intake.

Regarding the statement that "long-term intake of too little cooking oil can easily lead to insufficient intake of unsaturated fatty acids", Gu Zhongyi said that this statement is scientifically sound. However, for people who use air fryers, it is impossible to consume too little cooking oil. What they most likely need is to reduce their fat intake.

According to the cohort study data on changes in the nutritional status of Chinese residents in 2015, about 68% of the adult residents in my country have an average daily fat energy supply ratio that exceeds the upper limit of 30%.

As for the view that many nutrients will be lost under high temperature, Gu Zhongyi said that no matter whether it is ordinary frying or air frying, as long as the food is cooked, nutrients will be lost. When we cook, the nutrients lost the most among various ingredients are vitamins, among which water-soluble vitamins (vitamin C and B vitamins) are more easily lost than fat-soluble vitamins (vitamin A, D, E, K).

How to reduce acrylamide intake

Fan Zhihong said, "We have no way to avoid the production of acrylamide. If you don't want it, you won't get the attractive yellow color on the food surface and the strong barbecue aroma."

Therefore, although air fryers are not as bad as deep frying, they do not have much advantage in producing acrylamide. The crispy taste is often accompanied by a relatively high acrylamide content. For foods that are high in fat, such as grilled fish and grilled chicken wings, they will also contain some fat oxidation products.

Nevertheless, the way food is processed still has a great impact on the production of acrylamide. Acrylamide in food cooked at high temperatures cannot be completely avoided, but some process improvements can be made during food processing to reduce the amount of acrylamide produced.

Fan Zhihong suggested that in order to reduce the intake of acrylamide, there are several ways:

Control the cooking temperature and time. Make the food surface golden in color, not brown. The darker the color, the higher the production of harmful substances.

Control the frequency of making air fryer food. Don't worry if you eat it once a week, the total amount of harmful substances will not be too much.

Total amount control. Any food that turns brown after heating contains acrylamide. This includes bread crust, biscuits, pancakes, sesame cakes, fried buns, fried dumplings, grilled corn... Grilled, roasted, fried, and deep-fried foods will introduce this substance.

Air fryer is good

Don't be greedy

In daily cooking

Mostly steam, boil, stew, stir-fry, etc.

Cooking method

Keep the original taste of food

Balanced and rich diet

The healthiest way of life

Source: Science and Technology Daily

Editor: Wang Yu

Review: Julie

Final judge: Wang Yu