When using chopsticks, beware of hidden dangers

Whether at home or outside, chopsticks are the tableware that comes into "close contact" with your mouth every day. Whether they are safe and environmentally friendly is closely related to your health. But how much do you know about the use of chopsticks? Faced with a dazzling array of chopsticks of different materials on the market, how should you choose? Disposable chopsticks are everywhere, are they really convenient and hygienic? Experts remind you to be careful of hidden secrets when using chopsticks.

Chopsticks should be bamboo chopsticks

Nowadays, people are more and more particular about food, and even chopsticks are also varied. Faced with chopsticks of various materials on the market, such as bamboo, wood, painted, plastic, stainless steel, etc., how should we choose?

First of all, do not use chopsticks painted with colored paint.

Because the heavy metal lead and organic solvent benzene in the paint are carcinogenic. Moreover, as the paint on the chopsticks falls off during use, it will enter the human body with food, and increase the burden on the liver and kidneys during metabolism, which will seriously endanger human health. Wooden chopsticks have the characteristics of good hand feel and no deformation when exposed to high temperatures. However, wooden chopsticks are often soft in texture, and are prone to scratches during use and cleaning, hiding bacteria and endangering health. Therefore, if you like to use wooden chopsticks, you must pay attention to strengthening cleaning.

In addition, plastic chopsticks are brittle and easily deformed and melted when heated, which in turn produces substances harmful to the human body; bone chopsticks have a good texture, but are easy to discolor and are relatively expensive; metal chopsticks such as silver and stainless steel are too heavy, feel poor, and have strong thermal conductivity, which can easily burn your mouth when eating overheated food; when using them, you should also pay attention to avoid long-term contact with vinegar and salt, and do not use cleaning balls or strong acids and alkalis for cleaning to prevent the metal from dissolving.

Experts suggest that bamboo chopsticks should be the first choice. They are non-toxic and harmless, and very environmentally friendly. They are cheap, of good quality, will not deform when exposed to high temperatures, and are not prone to scratches and harboring bacteria.

There are some things to pay attention to when using chopsticks in daily life. In addition to paying attention to the choice of chopstick materials, the correct use and maintenance of chopsticks is also very important in daily life.

1. Try not to mix chopsticks among family members.

Mixing chopsticks can easily cause cross-infection of bacteria. Statistics show that nearly 50% of people have Helicobacter pylori, which causes stomach problems, and these bacteria are mostly transmitted in families, with chopsticks being one of the important transmission channels. Therefore, it is best to use chopsticks for specific people at home. You can make a small mark on the end of each pair of chopsticks, or buy chopsticks with different colors and patterns on the end for each family member. When having a meal together, you should also set aside a pair of public chopsticks for everyone to pick up food.

2. Wash the chopsticks thoroughly.

Many people are used to rubbing the whole bunch of chopsticks under the tap, and then inserting them into the chopstick holder to wash them. However, it is easy for bacteria to grow on the chopsticks, and enter the human body with food, which is harmful to human health. The correct way to wash should be: carefully scrub the chopsticks with detergent, and then wash them with running water. After draining the water, put them into the chopstick holder. The chopstick holder should be stored in a ventilated and dry place to prevent mold contamination. In addition, the chopstick holder should be cleaned and disinfected frequently. Families with conditions can put the cleaned chopsticks in a disinfection cabinet for disinfection and drying.

3. Change chopsticks frequently.

After using chopsticks for a long time, the surface is no longer smooth, and frequent scrubbing will make the chopsticks rough, with many tiny grooves, which are easy for bacteria and microorganisms to remain and breed. Therefore, it is best to replace chopsticks every six months.

4. Boil new chopsticks in boiling water.

Since chopsticks may be contaminated with chemicals and bacteria during production and transportation, newly purchased chopsticks should be rinsed repeatedly with running water, then placed in a pot and boiled in boiling water for about 10 minutes before use.

When using disposable chopsticks, pay attention to the shelf life. When dining out, people often choose disposable chopsticks from the perspective of hygiene. But are disposable chopsticks really convenient and hygienic? Experts remind that when using disposable chopsticks, pay attention to the shelf life.

Generally speaking, the shelf life of sterilized disposable chopsticks is up to 4 months. Once the shelf life has passed, they are likely to carry pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. The outer packaging of disposable chopsticks should be marked with the shelf life, but the disposable chopsticks on the market rarely have the production date and shelf life marked. This requires people to pay attention when using disposable chopsticks and not use expired chopsticks. If there are spots of non-wood color on the disposable chopsticks, if they are damp, deformed, or have a noticeable sour smell before use, they are signs of contamination and should be avoided. Therefore, try to use disposable chopsticks as little as possible when dining out.

Experts warn that used disposable chopsticks are usually thrown into the trash, but even these wastes are now being recycled. The recycled wooden chopsticks are not thrown into the furnace as fuel, but are fumigated and returned to the dining table. You should know that the chemical substances left on these disposable chopsticks may cause harm to the human body, and long-term use may induce a variety of diseases and even have the risk of cancer.

In order to avoid using fumigated chopsticks, you can identify them by the following three methods:

1. Look with your eyes.

To identify whether chopsticks have been fumigated, we must first look at the color. Because the wood material used to make chopsticks cannot be very white. If consumers see that the color of wooden chopsticks is very white, it is possible that they have been fumigated with bleach such as sulfur dioxide and hydrogen peroxide.

2. Smell it with your nose.

Before using disposable wooden chopsticks, consumers are advised to smell them first. Qualified wooden chopsticks should not have any peculiar smell, but only emit the smell of the wood itself.

3. Fold by hand.

Since fumigation can only whiten the surface of wooden chopsticks, consumers can break the chopsticks. If there is a significant difference in color between the inner and outer layers of the chopsticks, it is likely that they have been fumigated with bleach.