Liquid smoke: harmful or not - destroy myths
Liquid smoke is a flavoring, sold as a concentrated mixture, which allows you to simulate the natural smoking of fish, meat, sausages, cheeses, as well as give a specific taste to soups, baked and other dishes. It is of synthetic and natural origin.
Methods of obtaining, storage
Before we talk about it, harmful or not liquid smoke, it is worth mentioning the methods of obtaining this substance.
Smoke liquid of natural origin has been known to people since 19 century, when the Russian chemist V.. N. Karazin first tested the method in the preparation of products to preserve their freshness. The technology of obtaining liquid smoke in a natural way is based on dissolving elements in water, released during the decay of wood. Hardwood sawdust (cherry, beech, apple, alder) burn at a certain temperature, the smoke is passed through the tank, filled with water. Condensate, formed, goes through several stages of purification: first remove insoluble particles - ash, dyogot, then remove harmful chemical compounds - carcinogens. As a result, there are only two components of the future liquid - smoke condensate and resin. They get, using technologies such as distillation, concentration, absorption at the membrane level, and then the resulting mixture is stored in containers until "ripening", filtered and packed in containers.
So, given the composition of liquid smoke of natural origin, we can say, that the product is not so harmful, as its analogue, made of chemicals.
The composition of liquid smoke of synthetic origin
Doctors often warn the population, that the benefits of smoked products are minimal, and product, made using chemical additives, harmful and even dangerous to the body. So, liquid smoke of artificial origin is nothing else, as a mixture of water and chemical compounds, contained in different proportions. It can be:
- acids (from 3 to 10%);
- carbonyl compounds - aldehydes, ketones (from 2,5 to 4,6%);
- phenols (to 2,9 %).
Water in such liquids comes from 11 to 92%. Also, some manufacturers add spices to the composition.
Liquid smoke of synthetic origin harms the body - doctors can not say for sure. Laboratory studies of smoking mixtures are still ongoing.
The benefits of using liquid smoke
The main criterion, how housewives are guided when buying smoking mixtures is a time saver, as there is no need to soak the meat or fish in the marinade for several hours, burn sawdust, wait for the dish to be ready.
Another reason to replace natural smoking with liquid smoke is the desire not to harm your health, since with the use of the product, made of smoldering wood chips, dangerous carcinogens do not enter the body, dyogot (if you believe the manufacturers of the substance).
The use of smoky liquid has a positive effect on the taste and aromatic properties of the dish. Meat and fish, soaked in a mixture of "liquid smoke", taste almost indistinguishable from products, treated by natural smoking. They also acquire a specific smoky aroma and an appetizing golden or brownish hue..
Smoking lard with liquid smoke
in addition, benefit and is to destroy parasites, which may be in raw meat, fish. In that case, if smoky liquid is added before or after cooking, then heat treatment avoids human infection with helminths, salmonella and other microorganisms.
Possible and real damage
Nutritionists and nutritionists are confident, that the benefits of smoking liquids are exaggerated, and in most cases not without the participation of manufacturers, who need to sell their goods, misleading the consumer. The damage in all this is much more noticeable.
First, what doctors pay attention to, warning consumers of liquid smoke - the appearance of allergic reactions of varying severity. Some people have allergies immediately after a single meal, prepared using chemical additives, others complain of symptoms after regular smoking. So, many doctors urge you to stop buying liquid smoke, as well as selective approach to the choice of smoked products, presented on store shelves. It is not superfluous to study the composition of the additive itself "liquid smoke", and smoked goods.
Also meat and fish, treated with smoky liquid, damage the mucous membranes of the stomach and intestines, leading to peptic ulcer disease, gastritis, other pathologies. Whether or not people should consume such products, who already suffer from such diseases, there is no need to speak, because the answer is obvious.
We must not forget about smoked products, sold ready-made. Nobody rules out, that the buyer will get spoiled fish or meat, the musty smell of which was "killed" by liquid smoke.
In some countries, the authorities have taken emergency measures, prohibiting the sale of the most liquid smoke, recognizing it as a strong carcinogen and products, smoked with it. The ban affected liquids, produced in a natural way, and synthetic (chemical). In a number of other states there are rules, strictly regulate the content of chemical compounds and the concentration of smoking liquid. That is, the government itself, based on medical tests, recognizes the harm of the substance to health.
The European Food Safety Authority is wary of liquid smoke, which annually inspects commercially available samples. However, accurate data on that, as it affects the state of the body, there is no smoking mixture, doctors can not talk about the consequences of eating, in the preparation of which liquid smoke was used.
And some researchers say, that the substance leads to the formation of cancerous tumors. So, Scott Kern of Hopkins University found out, that pyrogallol, contained in liquid smoke, causes damage to cell DNA.
Substitute products for smoking liquids
To give a golden hue, you can replace liquid harmful smoke with onion peel, tea infusion. Smoky odor is obtained with some varieties of whiskey or soy sauce. Also use a mixture of mayonnaise, curry spices, grated garlic and soy sauce. It is better to add smoked ribs or meat to soups instead of smoky liquid, they have a much lower concentration of the substance, and the aroma of the finished dish will be no worse.
Because the controversy about that, whether liquid smoke causes damage, do not subside, it is better not to eat, prepared with its addition, and prefer products, made in the traditional way - by smoking on chips or sawdust.
