Is it safe to use moldy chopsticks after boiling them?
According to PGS.TS Nguyen Duy Thinh, an expert from the Institute of Biotechnology and Food Technology, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, the current humid weather provides favorable conditions for the growth of mold and bacteria. Therefore, it’s not surprising that utensils like chopsticks are also affected by mold.
In humid conditions, handling moldy chopsticks and how to deal with them when the humidity is high is a concern. However, does boiling moldy chopsticks guarantee safety?
Using moldy chopsticks to eat rice not only means you continue to introduce carcinogens into your body. According to experts, using moldy utensils carries the risk of cancer due to the production of aflatoxin by mold.
Aflatoxin is one of the powerful toxins capable of causing liver cancer. Prolonged exposure to aflatoxin through food increases the risk of developing liver cancer. Using moldy chopsticks increases the chance of exposure to aflatoxin and other toxins, thereby increasing the risk of cancer.
Although many people often boil moldy chopsticks in boiling water for a certain period of time or add substances like lime, vinegar, baking soda… to eliminate mold, PGS.TS Nguyen Duy Thinh believes that there is no method that completely guarantees the eradication of mold. In fact, the most important thing is to be aware of and avoid using moldy chopsticks. If the chopsticks are moldy, the best thing to do is to discard them to ensure personal health.
So what should be noted when using chopsticks to avoid mold?
Even in non-humid weather, using chopsticks is still frequent in a damp environment due to daily washing after eating, inserting them into the chopstick container near the kitchen or close to the sink, all of which can make them damp. “The area where the chopsticks container is located is usually more humid than other areas in the kitchen.
When putting chopsticks into the container, they usually remain damp, even if they have been dried by methods such as tapping, rubbing… to reduce the amount of water. However, this does not guarantee that the chopsticks will dry completely, especially on humid days like today,” an expert confirms.
Using damp chopsticks for the next meals is not only detrimental to health, but if they are wooden chopsticks, it is even more serious. “Most families nowadays use wooden chopsticks because they are convenient, easy to use and inexpensive… However, damp wooden chopsticks are prone to mold and bacteria growth due to favorable environmental conditions.
Using these wooden chopsticks during meals can introduce bacteria and mold into the body. Especially, the existence of mold in damp wooden chopsticks can lead to mold that is often invisible to the naked eye,” analyzed PGS.TS Nguyen Duy Thinh.
According to experts, after thoroughly washing the utensils, drying them is the best option, especially for daily used chopsticks. You can also expose the utensils to sunlight to kill bacteria. In prolonged humid days, using a drying machine, sterilization machine, or sterilizing the chopsticks can also be an option. For wooden chopsticks, soaking them in boiling water for about 30 minutes each month can be helpful. The expiration date of chopsticks is usually 3-6 months, and replacing them after this period will reduce the risk of harm to health.
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