Does eating soy sauce cause cancer? There is one kind of 'soy sauce' that has a risk of cancer. Does it depend on your home?

There are many varieties of soy sauce in supermarkets. The price ranges from a few yuan to dozens of yuan, and the difference is several times.

Light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, soy sauce, extremely fresh, mushroom soy sauce, seafood soy sauce, children's soy sauce... Do you know the difference between them?

Rumors, soy sauce can cause cancer? Is it real or fake? And there is a kind of "soy sauce" that has been banned for sale, are you still buying it stupidly?

1. Eating soy sauce can cause cancer?

Although soy sauce looks similar, there are actually two types of soy sauce: brewed soy sauce and prepared soy sauce.

The brewed soy sauce is made of soybeans, black beans and other soybeans as raw materials, and survives through microbial fermentation. Generally, the production cycle is long, about 3-12 months.

The preparation of soy sauce is prepared by brewing soy sauce, acid hydrolyzed vegetable protein pulp, and then adding food additives. The cycle is short and the cost is low.

Initially, the claim that soy sauce was carcinogenic was that the additive "caramel color" would generally be added to the preparation of soy sauce, and the "4-methylimidazole" in this additive had been identified as a possible carcinogen 2B by the International Agency for Cancer .

In this regard, Ruan Guangfeng, director of the business department of the Kexin Food and Nutrition Information Exchange Center, said: Class 2B carcinogens indicate that they may cause cancer, but there is currently insufficient evidence of carcinogenicity in animals and humans, so there is no need to panic .

The Expert Technical Committee of China Condiment Association also issued a statement: "4-methylimidazole may cause cancer" has no theoretical basis and has not been unanimously recognized by international authorities.

Today, China's national food safety standards stipulate that caramel coloring is allowed to be added to soy sauce, but the content of 4-methylimidazole in caramel coloring is required to be lower than 200mg/kg .

2. However, do not buy soy sauce

In 2021, the State Administration for Market Regulation issued an announcement clearly stating that “prepared soy sauce” cannot be called soy sauce, and no products labeled as “prepared soy sauce”, including “prepared vinegar”, are allowed to be produced and sold.

Formulated soy sauce not only reduces the nutritional value, but also carries the risk of excessive chloropropanols .

Propanol compounds have certain toxicity and can affect the liver, kidney, nervous system and blood circulatory system, and even have certain mutagenic and carcinogenic effects .

3. Light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, soy sauce, extremely fresh... What's the difference?

If you go to the supermarket shelves, you can see that there are many types of soy sauce. Why do you want to make so many patterns?

In the dilute fermentation process, the soy sauce extracted for the first time is called "top-sucking oil", the soy sauce extracted by the second fermentation is called "second-sucking oil", and the soy sauce extracted for the third time is called "three-sucking oil". oil".

·Light soy sauce: Mix the first, second, and third soy sauce according to a certain proportion. It is characterized by light color and delicious taste. It is excellent whether it is cold or stir-frying.

·Dark soy sauce: It is formed by further processing and concentrating all the sucking oil. It has a dark color and is viscous and good for coloring.

Soy sauce: Ordinary soy sauce is between dark soy sauce and light soy sauce, with a heavy color and a bitter taste.

Extremely fresh: Weijixian is actually a kind of soy sauce, but it has some additives that can improve the freshness, which can replace the role of monosodium glutamate.

In addition to the common light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and extremely fresh flavors, there are varieties such as mushroom soy sauce, seafood soy sauce, and even high-priced children's soy sauce specially designed for children. Are these worth buying?

Just like the truth of "wife cake has no wife", there is actually no seafood in seafood soy sauce , even if there is, it is only scallops, and food additives such as disodium succinate play a role in umami.

And what about mushroom soy sauce ? Although there is a small amount of mushroom extract, the main components are sodium glutamate and disodium 5'-guanylate, which are also found in ordinary soy sauce.

In addition, some businesses have seized the business opportunity of "children" and developed "children's soy sauce", which is actually a "gimmick".

In fact , the sodium content of children's soy sauce is not low, and as long as soy sauce is rich in amino acids, the actual content of soy sauce that claims to supplement zinc and selenium is very low.

In short, don't believe the bells and whistles of soy sauce, in fact, just buy ordinary soy sauce.

Four, 3 keywords, easy to choose high-quality soy sauce

How to choose a good soy sauce? 3 parts can be seen.

1. High salt dilute state

We judge whether the soy sauce is pure brewed soy sauce from the information on the outer packaging of the soy sauce.

First of all, look at the word " preparation " on the package. Generally, if there is "preparation", it means that this is "blending soy sauce".

Secondly, it depends on the brewing process of soy sauce. It is common to use a high-salt and dilute brewing method, with good color and good taste.

2. Quality level

The grade of brewed soy sauce can be judged by the content of amino acid nitrogen, which is generally divided into special grade (>0.80 g/100ml)), first grade (>0.70 g/100ml), second grade (>0.55 g/100m) and third grade (>0.55 g/100m). >0.40g/100ml).

The higher the amino acid nitrogen content, the higher the grade of soy sauce and the better the quality .

3. How to use

Soy sauce can be divided into serving soy sauce and cooking soy sauce , the difference between the two is the different health indicators.

First of all, because the soy sauce can be eaten directly, the requirements for hygienic indicators are relatively high.

Secondly, cooking soy sauce cannot be eaten directly. It needs to be heated before eating. Generally, this kind of soy sauce is not selected for cold dishes.

Soy sauce is one of the most common kitchen condiments in life. Adding a little soy sauce to dishes can increase the umami and stimulate people's appetite, but soy sauce also contains "invisible salt", so pay attention to the amount of salt when seasoning. Reduce Oh!

Finally, everyone should pay attention to three points when buying soy sauce. First, buy soy sauce produced by regular manufacturers. Second, don’t be confused by the “gimmicks” of soy sauce. Third, learn to distinguish high-quality soy sauce.

References:

[1] "[Scientific Rumor List] Soy sauce without the "GB18186" code causes cancer? 》.Health Guide.2021-04-23

[2] What is the difference between light soy sauce and old soy sauce? What is white soy sauce? 》. Nutshell.2019-04-21

[3] "Official Speech! Don't buy such "soy sauce" and "vinegar" again...". Popular Science China. 2021-07-09

[4] "Soy sauce is not the more expensive the better! Find these 3 keywords and easily avoid blending soy sauce". Health China. 2020-10-28