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Views: 68 Author: Site Editor Publish Time: 2024-02-06 Origin: Site
Air fryers boast a healthier way of cooking such as French fries and chicken wings without using oil, and have become a sought-after product by many cooking professionals. However, are there any safety hazards? Is food made in air fryers really healthier?
Regular consumption of fried foods may increase the risk of cancer because some foods such as potatoes and acrylamide undergo a chemical reaction to form acrylamide when cooked at high temperatures (above 120°C) and in small amounts of water. In 1994, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified acrylamide as "probably carcinogenic to humans" (Group 2A), so it is better to reduce the intake of acrylamide. Although food cooked in air fryers is oil-free, deep-fried food may contain the carcinogen acrylamide as it is air-fried at high temperature.
In fact, when the Consumer Council conducted the tests, the frozen French fries were air-fried according to the recipes provided by the manufacturers or agents. The level of acrylamide in air-fried frozen thin fries was tested. It was found that acrylamide was detected in all models, with levels ranging from 102 μg/kg to 7,038 μg/kg, a difference of 68 times! Half of the models contained acrylamide at levels exceeding the EU benchmark level (500 μg/kg)!
Cooking temperature and time have a significant effect on the acrylamide level!
CPSC then conducted tests using the model with the highest acrylamide level (7038 μg/kg). It was found that if the cooking time was reduced by 8 minutes (with no change in cooking temperature), the acrylamide content of French fries dropped significantly to 207 μg/kg.
Meanwhile, if the cooking temperature was reduced by 50°C to 150°C (no change in cooking time), the acrylamide content of French fries also decreased significantly to 444 μg/kg. The results showed that cooking temperature and time had a significant effect on the amount of acrylamide produced. Therefore, consumers should adjust the cooking time and temperature according to the size, quantity and thickness of the food and try to avoid frying food at high temperature or for a long period of time to minimize the risk of acrylamide intake.
Consumers often use air fryers to deep fry potatoes or foods made from potatoes (e.g. French fries). In the case of French fries, for example, consumers can follow these 4 tips to reduce acrylamide levels when air frying French fries:
Avoid using frozen potatoes
If fresh potatoes are used to make french fries, avoid using potatoes stored at 6°C or lower, as the level of reducing sugar (an acrylamide-producing substance) may be higher.
Cut potatoes into thick slices
The thickness of the fries affects the production of acrylamide. The thicker the slices, the smaller the surface area for air frying and the lower the level of acrylamide produced.
Wash before cooking
Rinsing or boiling potato slices in water before air frying reduces surface asparagine and reducing sugars, both of which produce acrylamide.
Check the color
The darker the color of the french fries (e.g. dark brown), the higher the acrylamide level, so consumers should only fry them until they are light yellow or golden brown.
