Yoshinoya was exposed for using smelly minced meat and expired ingredients. What are the dangers of eating them frequently?

Recently, a piece of news attracted the attention of most workers. It was revealed that the ingredients sold in a certain store of Yoshinoya were not fresh, and there were expired vegetables, spoiled meat, and cooking oil was reused. #Yoshinoya uses smelly meat#

Yoshinoya is a brand that many working people will patronize, and everyone likes its beef rice. Yoshinoya also claims that it will provide customers with the freshest and highest quality food and sell the "best beef rice".

This news is really a slap in the face. Afterwards, Yoshinoya headquarters issued a statement, saying that the "Yoshinoya" in the news is not their "Yoshinoya". Many friends who saw it were confused...

Never mind whether it is true or not. This article is mainly about the "Yoshinoya" meals that were exposed in the news. What harm will it do to the body if consumed for a long time? I believe this is also something that many working friends are concerned about.

1. Use expired ingredients:

From the video, we can see that the vegetables used for meal preparation in the store were produced on October 29, but were still in use on November 3, so the vegetables were stored for as long as 6 days.

Vegetables stored for a long time not only have a bad taste, but also have two other problems:

① Decreased nutritional value:

Studies have shown that after spinach was stored at 4-6°C for one week and three weeks, its original thiamine (vitamin B1) lost 13% and 46% respectively. In fresh spinach, the vitamin C loss rate reached 100% after less than 4 days of storage at room temperature. [1]

② Increased nitrite content:

Not only will the nutritional value decrease with extended storage time, but the nitrite content in vegetables will also increase.

In my country, 94.5% to 95.5% of nitrates and 19.8% to 47.3% of nitrites come from vegetables. Nitrates themselves are low in toxicity, but when they are converted into nitrites, they become harmful to the body.

Studies have shown that the nitrite content of vegetables generally increases during storage, especially in leafy vegetables. The nitrite content of leafy vegetables such as spinach and celery is much higher than that of root vegetables such as potatoes and white radish. This is because leafy vegetables are nitrate-rich vegetables, and nitrate can be converted into nitrite under certain conditions. [2]

Therefore, even if we store vegetables at home, we must remember to buy less at a time, eat them as soon as possible, and avoid storing them for a long time.

2. Vegetables are fried:

The video mentioned that the Yoshinoya store involved would fry the vegetables before leaving them. This can make the vegetables look better, and the green leafy vegetables will appear brighter green after being fried, making them look more appetizing, but it will also cause the vegetables to lose some nutrients.

The high temperature of deep-frying food will accelerate the oxidative decomposition of vitamin A. Since vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin, some of it will dissolve in the oil and cause loss. In addition, water-soluble B vitamins and vitamin C are also lost. [3]

Therefore, when we cook at home, we should try to avoid frying and use more cooking methods such as steaming, stewing, cold mixing, and quick stir-frying to retain the nutrients in the food to a greater extent.

3. The basa fish smells bad and the meat is sour

You can smell the stinky fish and sour meat foam described in the video through the screen. Eating such food is very dangerous and may cause food poisoning.

Rotten and spoiled fish will produce histamine. When the histamine content in fish meat is high, reaching 200 mg/100 g, it will cause allergic poisoning in humans, with symptoms such as high blood pressure, nausea, vomiting, and in severe cases, death.

As for spoiled meat, most restaurants use vacuum-packed and frozen raw materials. The contaminated microorganisms are mainly lactococci and bacilli[4], which may cause vomiting and diarrhea after consumption.

Judging from cases in the past ten years, there are quite a few cases of food poisoning caused by eating spoiled fish or livestock meat. There are also reports of food poisoning in some companies and canteens due to this reason.

If you buy frozen meat at home, it is recommended to eat it within 1 month.

4. Repeated frying with vegetable oil:

From the video, we can see that most of the ingredients in the Yoshinoya restaurant involved are fried. What is more worrying is that the vegetable oil that has been used for frying is not replaced with new ones, but the black residue in it is filtered out with a filter before it is used again, and it will not be replaced until it takes up to a week.

Because the oil is used repeatedly, the color becomes darker and darker, so it appears black.

Cooking oil that has been used multiple times will deteriorate in taste and texture, and its nutritional value will decrease. During frying, 70-90% of the vitamin E in vegetable oil will be destroyed, and fat-soluble vitamin A, vitamin D, and essential fatty acids will also be destroyed by oxidation. [3]

In addition, carcinogens will be produced under the repeated action of high temperature.

Frying is a form of high-temperature cooking, with temperatures reaching 140-200°C[3]. During this process, oxidation reactions occur to produce peroxides, which in turn attack cells and may accelerate aging. It also produces the carcinogen benzopyrene and the Class 2A carcinogen acrylamide.

We recommend that you limit your cooking oil consumption at home to 25 to 30 grams per day (a porcelain spoon for drinking soup weighs about 10 grams per spoon)[5]. Try to avoid high-temperature frying. Even if you occasionally make fried dishes, you must throw away the used oil and do not reuse it.

Summary: Food is the first necessity of the people, and food safety comes first! Nutritious, delicious, and healthy food always comes from your own kitchen! I hope everyone can try to make their own food as much as possible, and I also hope that restaurants on the market can strictly control every link to ensure product quality, so that everyone can eat with confidence and safety!

Discussion: Do you often go to Yoshinoya? Tell me where is the "best beef bowl"?

References:

[1] Wang Menglei, Chen Fusheng, Yang Hongshun, Chen Yamin, Li Meng. Research progress on the effects of processing and storage on the changes in nutritional components and antioxidant activity of fruits and vegetables[J]. Modern Food Science and Technology, 2013, 29(03): 692-697. DOI: 10.13982/j.mfst.1673-9078.2013.03.058.

[2] Bie Tongyu, Xu Jiasheng, Yang Lili, et al. Effect of storage time on nitrite content in different types of vegetables[J]. Food Research and Development, 2012, 33(12): 205-207.

[3] Yang Yuexin, Ge Keyou. Chinese Nutrition Science Encyclopedia 2nd Edition (Volume 1)[M]. People's Medical Publishing House, 2019

[4] Sun Cuihuan, Wang Yanhua, Zhu Wanqin, et al. Analysis of causes of spoilage of meat products[J]. Journal of Microbiology, 2011, 31(3): 106-109. DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1005-7021.2011.03.021.

[5] Chinese Nutrition Society. Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents[M]. People's Medical Publishing House, 2016

illustrate:

Photos of the Yoshinoya restaurant in the article

All of them are screenshots of the video from the Weibo account “Insider Patrol Bureau”.