Is instant noodles really "junk food"?

Do you know where the term "junk food" came from?

A: I heard it from my mom...

Okay, all kidding aside, “junk food” itself is not an academic concept, but a direct translation of the English word “Junk Food”.

As time goes by, it has gradually become synonymous with "unhealthy food" in the minds of parents.

Because there is no official definition, people have different interpretations of junk food. For example:

For example, the picture below, have you ever seen it in the "Loving Family" group?

Because the rumor was so widespread, the World Health Organization even refuted it at a media conference in 2018:

Some of the people in this picture are our "old friends". Today, I would like to introduce them to you again:

Pickled vegetables, a traditional delicacy popular all over the country, are actually identified as a possible carcinogen by the World Health Organization?

This is mainly because of the nitrite produced during the production process of pickled vegetables. However, as the pickling and fermentation proceeds, the harmful microorganisms decrease and the nitrite can be degraded.

Our test results also confirmed this: pickles made from green vegetables will reach the safety line after 35 days; pickles made from Chinese cabbage can be eaten after 14 days.

As long as we avoid the highest nitrite content, we can still eat pickled vegetables happily. Click on the picture below to view the complete pickled vegetable evaluation results↓↓↓

The most widely circulated saying about instant noodles being "junk food" is that it takes 28 days to metabolize the poison in a packet of instant noodles.

It makes people exclaim, wow, it turns out that the earliest "infinite flow" was actually eating instant noodles

We bought 12 common instant noodles and conducted targeted tests, and found that most of them were not as the rumors said.

Many people suspect that instant noodles are fried with gutter oil, but in fact they are made with palm oil.

This oil has high saturation and good thermal stability. It produces relatively less fumes and carcinogens when frying, and it is not easy to turn black after repeated frying, making it more suitable for frying than ordinary cooking oil.

And the price is much lower than ordinary oil. From these two points of view, palm oil is the most suitable choice, and manufacturers do not need to take the risk of using gutter oil to make instant noodles.

If fried repeatedly, the most direct result is that the acid value of the dough will be high. We tested the acid value of 10 fried doughs and the results were all within the national standard, so you can rest assured.

The most likely place to add preservatives to instant noodles is in the sauce/vegetable packs. We tested all sauces/vegetable packs that did not list preservatives in the ingredient list, and none of them were detected.

Some instant noodles do contain preservatives, but the types and dosages are all within the range allowed by national standards, and the manufacturers will clearly mark them on the packaging. If you really mind, you can just choose instant noodles without preservatives.

Although there are many types of additives in the ingredients of instant noodles, they all have their own significance and play an important role in the color, aroma and taste of instant noodles.

Qualified instant noodles produced by regular brands have additives added in accordance with national standards and will not cause harm to the human body.

We tested the inner wall materials of 12 types of bucket instant noodles: the inner wall of the bucket is basically made of polyethylene (PE) or polypropylene (PP); while the inner side of the lid is made of polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP) or ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA).

These materials are food contact grade, just like the plastic wrap, plastic bags, and food boxes we usually come into contact with, so there is no need to worry.

At the same time, we also tested its total migration during high temperature immersion. The results showed that all of them were qualified.

Therefore, there is no need to worry too much about the "harmfulness" of instant noodles. The problem is more about the unbalanced nutrition: high sodium content and low protein and dietary fiber content.

But if we have to consider instant noodles as junk food, why aren’t noodles mixed with lard or scallion oil considered junk food?

For the complete instant noodle evaluation results, click on the picture below to view↓↓↓

Canned food is included in the list of junk food mainly because of its "extremely long shelf life". Canned food only needs to be stored at room temperature and can be stored for 3 years.

This leads many elders to mistakenly believe that it must have added too much preservatives. But... for qualified canned food, there is really no need to do this!

Canning is an old and mature process, which is generally achieved through sealing and sterilization technology. Usually 121℃ high temperature sterilization is used, so the shelf life can be as long as 2~3 years.

So instead of worrying about the preservatives in canned food, it is better to look at its "sodium content". It is very easy to exceed the standard if you eat too much!

According to the Chinese Dietary Guidelines, the daily sodium intake of adults should not exceed 1500 mg. So, if you eat a can of luncheon meat, even if you don't eat other foods, your daily sodium intake is enough.

But this is not a problem only for canned food. Nowadays, people are eating heavy-flavored food. Even white porridge with mustard tuber may contain excessive sodium. What we need to do is not to stop eating, but to eat less.

Click on the picture below to view the complete luncheon meat evaluation results↓↓↓

When talking about barbecue, many people blurt out "carcinogenic". To verify this, we specially grilled 838 yuan of skewers and sent them to the laboratory for testing of two carcinogens (benzopyrene and heterocyclic amines).

Some of them are baked over open flames, while others are baked over non-open flames.

The results showed that two carcinogens (benzopyrene and heterocyclic amines) were not detected in the samples roasted without open flames;

Among the samples roasted using an open flame, only the whole chicken wing samples were found to contain benzopyrene. We speculate that this may be related to the fact that the chicken wings were roasted for the longest time.

Through this test, the claims that "barbecuing causes cancer" and "burning food can cause cancer" have not been verified.

If you want to eat barbecue healthily, you can give priority to electric grills and grill pans, use less oil and salt when marinating, and put less seasoning when eating~

Click on the picture below to view the complete barbecue evaluation results↓↓↓

It is undeniable that there are indeed many "unhealthy foods" on this list. For example, soda, candied fruit, and ice cream all have high sugar content and eating too much of them is not good for the body.

But this is not a problem unique to them. Many foods that our ancestors often ate are actually not healthy. For example, the glutinous rice balls and moon cakes that are often eaten during festivals are mostly high-sugar foods.

For example, the white rice we often eat is not healthy from the perspective of nutritional balance: high in carbohydrates and low in protein. But if it is a combination of meat and vegetables, with three dishes and a soup, it is a very nutritious meal.

How did this list of the top ten junk foods come about? We guess it may be because junk food is an imported concept.

This resulted in it retaining a very strong foreign flavor after entering China: most of these 10 junk foods are typical "Western fast food."

Similar ideas also occur in many Western fast food, such as hamburgers. If we break it down: bread + lettuce/tomato + egg + beef/chicken.

Although it is not very healthy, it is still slightly more nutritionally balanced than the "Chinese hamburger" Roujiamo: two pieces of steamed buns (also refined carbohydrates) + meat that has been stewed for a long time (high in fat and oil).

If we have to say that hamburgers are unhealthy, why doesn't anyone say that roujiamo is unhealthy?

In this article, we are not trying to justify all the foods on this list, nor do we want to drag traditional foods down. We just want to tell everyone: there is no junk food, only junk eating methods.

It doesn’t matter whether you have this list of junk food or not. What’s important is to learn to match food properly.

For example: add an egg and some vegetables to instant noodles, and drink less soup; when eating barbecue, choose barbecue grilled on an electric grill or grill pan, and use less seasoning :)

You ask me whether I want the happiness or health brought by junk food? Only children make choices, while adults want everything!

Editor | Yuanyuan

Design | Sour

Source: Dad Review