It is impossible that aluminum foil is not available for packing food in Indian kitchens. Despite knowing about the harm to health, people use foil to pack roti. But nowadays, cooking things in foil is trending in India. Do you know that by cooking some things in it, aluminum can also be found in them. This result came to light in a research published in the International Journal of Electrochemical Science. According to this, when aluminum foil comes in contact with food, aluminum can be released from it.
The surprising thing is that if tomato, vinegar, lemon or citric acid and more spices are used in the food, then its dissolution rate increases further. Nowadays people bake potatoes in aluminum foil in which many spices are added. In this way, aluminum also enters the body unknowingly. Know what has come to light in this research.
How was the research done?
This research was named Risk Assessment of Using Aluminum Foil in Food Preparation. Chemical engineers from UAE and Egypt were included in this. In this, an attempt was made to know how much aluminum gets into the food from the foil used daily. Researchers prepared meat sauce by mixing citric acid, tomato, vinegar and many spices. When the sauce was boiling, the foil was brought in contact with it.
Later the weight of the foil was checked and it was seen how much metal was reduced in it. Apart from this, it was also checked how much aluminum reached the food. Although this was a lab based research and its clinical trial has not been done yet.
What came out in the research
Research revealed that the weight of the foil was decreasing in every test. This means that due to the reaction with sour things, aluminum was getting reduced and reaching the food. If we look at the data, 22.8 to 75.4 mg of aluminum reached per person through light tomato and citric acid sauce. However, when the amount of citric acid was increased, this figure increased from 40 to 132 mg per person.
Research shows that when juice of sour things is mixed with food, aluminum definitely reaches the food. According to experts, by adding tomato juice the pH of the food increased from 6.9 to 4.9. The use of vinegar instead of citric acid further increased the leakage of aluminium. About 465 mg of aluminum per person reached the food intake in vinegar sauce. This was three times more than citric acid. Acidic materials, salt and high temperatures increase metal leakage from aluminum foil.
Danger from cooking in oven
When food with the same sauce was wrapped in foil and cooked in the oven, the level reached about 361 milligrams of aluminum per person. The cooking time in the oven was kept for about 90 minutes. Apart from this, aluminum is found in food due to many spices.
How much intake of aluminum is safe?
It is said that an adult human can intake 2 mg of aluminum per kilogram of weight per week. If someone’s weight is 68 kg, then the limit for the whole week is 136 mg. Therefore, by cooking food in vinegar or other sour things, a large amount of aluminum reaches the body. Although our body expels extra aluminum, but if this happens for a long time, things can get worse.
These people should be more careful
- People who have chronic kidney disease should avoid eating such things.
- If someone is taking dialysis then he should also consume aluminum wisely.
- Small children and infants are also considered more sensitive to the effects of aluminum due to their low weight.
- Keep these things in mind
- Stopping the use of aluminum foil is not a solution. If you want to cook food in it, then put butter paper in it.
- If you want to wrap the sandwich in foil then it is best to use paper in this also.
- As soon as you make chapati, avoid packing it in aluminum foil. When it cools down a bit, you can pack it in foil.
- If you want to cook sour food in foil paper, then avoid doing so regularly.
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