Which foods are often mistakenly considered “junk food”?

There is a picture that has been circulated wildly:

But after careful examination, I found that this picture is really...

First of all, the World Health Organization of the United Nations has never selected the top ten junk foods.

This list of the top ten junk foods first circulated in 2003 and was said to have been announced at the 113th session of the World Health Organization.

However…The 113th session of the World Health Organization was held on January 19, 2004.

This is strange, did the media at that time have the ability to predict the future?

Because this list of junk foods has been spread too widely.

The World Health Organization had no choice but to refute the rumor at a media communication meeting on the scientific interpretation of food safety hot spots in 2018:

No junk food list has ever been published.

News screenshots

Secondly, junk food itself is not an academic concept.

It originated from abroad and its original name was Junk Food, so it was translated into "junk food".

As time went by, it adapted to local customs and became a synonym for "unhealthy food".

Precisely because there is no official definition, everyone has a different interpretation of junk food.

for example:

We looked at the 10 categories in this chart and found that there are indeed some foods that are not very healthy.

But there are also several that have gradually been "stigmatized" during the spread of the disease.

I have selected three typical ones to talk about:

instant noodles

Canned Food

barbecue

1. Instant noodles Most of the misunderstandings about instant noodles are concentrated in the following points:

Unhygienic use of oil

Repeated frying is unhealthy

Many preservatives and additives

Eating more is unhealthy

Waxing the inner wall of instant noodles in barrels

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

1. Using unhygienic oil

Many people suspect that instant noodles are made 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 regular oil.

From these two points of view, palm oil is the most suitable choice, and there is no need for manufacturers to take the risk of using gutter oil to make instant noodles.

2. Repeated frying is unhealthy

If fried repeatedly, the most direct consequence is that the sourness of the dough will be higher.

We tested the acid value of 10 types of fried noodles and the results were within the national standard.

Everyone can rest assured.

3. High in preservatives

The most likely place to add preservatives to instant noodles is in the sauce/wet vegetable packets.

We tested all sauces/wet vegetable packets that did not list preservatives in the ingredient list and found none.

Some instant noodles also have preservatives added.

However, the types and dosages are all within the range permitted by national standards, and the manufacturers will also clearly mark them on the packaging.

For those who really mind it, you can now just try instant noodles without added preservatives.

4. Too many additives, eating too much is unhealthy

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.

In addition, their usage is very small and will not cause any harm to the human body.

5. Waxing the inner wall of instant noodles in barrels

We tested the inner wall materials of 12 barrel instant noodles:

The material of the inner wall of the barrel is basically polyethylene (PE) or polypropylene (PP);

The material on the inside of the lid is 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 measured its total migration during high temperature immersion.

The results showed that all of them were qualified.

So there is no need to worry about instant noodles being harmful.

The only problem with it is that the nutrition is not balanced: high in sodium and low in protein and dietary fiber.

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

2. Canned food The main reason why canned food is included in the list of junk food is its "extremely long shelf life".

Canned food only needs to be stored at room temperature and can be stored for 3 years.

This has led many elders to mistakenly believe that it must have contained excessive amounts of preservatives.

But...there is really no need to add preservatives to canned food!

Canning is an ancient and mature process, which generally uses sealing and sterilization technology to achieve preservation.

Usually 121℃ high temperature sterilization is used, so the shelf life can be as long as 2-3 years.

Therefore, canned foods do not require the addition of additional preservatives, and naturally there is no problem of excessively high levels of preservatives.

In fact, the biggest problem with canned food is its high sodium content. Eating too much can easily lead to excessive sodium intake.

But this isn’t just a canned food problem.

Nowadays, people tend to eat heavy-flavored foods. Even if you eat plain porridge with pickled mustard tubers, you may still exceed the sodium limit.

What we need to do is not to stop eating, but to eat less.

3. Barbecue When talking about barbecue, many people will blurt out the word "carcinogenic".

To verify this, we specially grilled skewers worth 838 yuan and sent them to the laboratory for testing for two carcinogens (benzopyrene and heterocyclic amines).

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

Open flame grilling

Non-open flame grilling

The results show:

Two carcinogens (benzopyrene and heterocyclic amines) were not detected in the samples grilled without open flames.

Among the samples grilled using open flames, only the whole chicken wing samples were found to contain benzopyrene.

That said, grilling isn't that unhealthy.

If you don't eat it often, you can eat barbecue with confidence.

If you are really worried, it is safer to choose electric grill or grill pan.

It is undeniable that there are indeed many "not so healthy foods" on this list.

For example, soda, candied fruit, and ice cream all have a high sugar content and eating too much of them is not good for your body.

But this is not a problem unique to them. Many foods that our ancestors often ate are actually not healthy.

For example, the rice dumplings and moon cakes that we often eat during festivals are mostly high-sugar foods.

For example, the white rice we often eat is not healthy from the perspective of nutritional balance: it is high in carbohydrates and low in protein.

But if you combine meat and vegetables, and have three dishes and a soup, it will be a very nutritious meal.

So how did this list of the top ten junk foods come about?

We speculate that this may be related to the fact that junk food is an "imported concept". This has led to it retaining a very strong foreign flavor after entering China:

Of the top 10 junk foods, 7 are typical "Western fast food." Similar ideas also apply to many Western fast foods, 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 you have to say that hamburgers are unhealthy, why doesn't anyone say that roujiamo is unhealthy?

We are not trying to justify every food on this list, nor are we trying to drag traditional foods down.

I just want to tell everyone: there is no junk food, only junk way of eating.

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 to instant noodles, some vegetables, and less soup;

When eating barbecue, choose electric grill or grill pan barbecue, and use less dipping sauce :)