Which Lotus Root will you choose if it is white and clean and covered with mud? Mr. Zhao, who lives in Xiufeng Road, Fuzhou, chose the former. Unexpectedly, the cooked steak soup with lotus roots is not the right taste: Lotus Root actually has unpleasant sour taste. The reporter found that these lotus roots were soaked with citric acid for a long time. However, as long as the amount of citric acid is not enough, it does not affect health. After the vendor cleaned the lotus root slightly with a water pipe, it was sprinkled with citric acid. The vendor carries a bag of citric acid in one hand and sprinkles the citric acid on the lotus root with a spoon in the other hand. Citizen: buy beauty lotus root but Cook sour soup Mr. Zhao comes from Honghu in Hubei province, where lotus root is an essential food, and Mr. Zhao has formed the habit of eating lotus root. A few days ago, he went to a farmer’s market in Xiufeng Road, Fuzhou to buy lotus roots with fair color and fresh color. Who knows that after the lotus root soup was cooked, Mr. Zhao tasted it and it actually had a sour taste; After eating lotus root, the sour taste was even more sour. Mr. Zhao suspected it was the lotus root problem. He said that in his hometown, lotus root washing is scraped with chopsticks, so the skin will be damaged to some extent. However, Mr. Zhao suspected that this kind of lotus root was washed with some chemicals. According to the information provided by Mr. Zhao, the reporter came to the market near Xindian zhanban. The reporter saw that there were indeed two different kinds of lotus roots sold in the roadside stalls: one was washed clean and close to people’s skin color, while the other was with black silt. A vendor selling white lotus roots told reporters that the reason why these lotus roots are so white was that they were just dug out from the countryside and were very fresh. After washing, they were like this. However, those with black color are not local lotus roots. If they are not fresh after transportation, the color will become worse. But the vendors selling “mud lotus root” told the reporter tit-for-tat that those who were soaked in “Sour water” would be so white and their mud Lotus Root would be healthier. Investigation: Citric acid sprinkled on lotus root for cleaning and preservation The reporter then visited a number of farmers’ markets. “The White Lotus Root has been soaked with ‘potion ‘. It has a sour taste and is not delicious.” A vegetable wholesale household revealed that the “potion” of soaking lotus root is a kind of white crystal-like “lotus root starch”. Some people familiar with the matter said that the so-called “lotus root starch” is actually citric acid, but they do not know whether the food grade or industrial grade is used by merchants. The reporter followed him for several days. On the morning of 20th, he saw on the 28th of the Straits vegetable wholesale market that two workers washed a basket of Muddy Lotus roots with plastic pipes and washed them for more than 20 minutes, A worker took a big red Bailer and sprinkled white pink on the lotus root soaked in water. Then, the worker scooped the water with a spoon and poured the lotus root to dilute the white powdered substance. The reporter took the excuse to buy lotus root. After approaching, he found that the plastic bag with white powder was written with the word “Citric acid. “What are these things?” The reporter asked. The worker replied that this was used for cleaning and preservation. After using lotus root mud, it would be removed, and the appearance would look better, and the lotus root preservation was no problem for three or four days. In this wholesale market, the reporter saw that some washed lotus roots were particularly white and tender, and it was very slippery to touch them with hands. Expert: excessive food grade also leads to calcium loss After several rounds, the reporter found Weifang Ensign Industrial Co., Ltd., the manufacturer of this bag of citric acid. According to the company’s public information, this product named citric acid monohydrate is mainly used in the food and beverage industry as acidulant, flavoring agent, preservative and preservative; It is also in the chemical industry, used as antioxidant, plasticizer, detergent and so on in makeup industry and washing industry. The staff of the domestic business department of citric acid sales said that the product can be used not only for cleaning boilers, pipes, bed sheets and so on, but also for food washing. Lu Feng, a researcher at the School of Food Science of Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, told reporters that citric acid includes industrial and food grade. If it is industrial grade, it is definitely not allowed, which is harmful to people’s health. However, if it is food grade, there is no problem in terms of safety, which mainly plays the role of antioxidant and color protection, it is common in the processing of agricultural products. The relevant person in charge of the agricultural product quality and safety supervision department of Fuzhou Municipal Bureau of Agriculture said that citric acid cannot be used in the planting process of lotus root, but the cleaning process of lotus root is barely considered as a processing link. However, even food-grade citric acid has a certain dosage, which will lead to the loss of calcium substance in human body. It said that when using citric acid, merchants should standardize the operation and not abuse it, and establish a system of usage records so that functional departments can supervise and inspect at any time. Reminder: three tricks to distinguish “beauty” lotus root An expert from Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University said that from a health perspective, if you want to eat healthy food, you ‘d better choose one without “beauty. Citizens can distinguish whether the lotus root has undergone “beauty” from three aspects “: The first is to smell the smell, and the sour lotus root cannot be used. The good lotus root has sand, and the outer skin is rough, and there is a smell of soil near it. Secondly, look at the color. Under normal circumstances, the lotus root will change color after being placed for a period of time. The whitened lotus root is still white as new for a few days, but after cleaning, it will deteriorate rapidly. It turns yellow at first and then black later. Taste again. If raw food is sour, this means that lotus root is likely to be soaked by acidic solution. (Reporter Zhao Yang, Zhu Liping, text/picture)
