Are Self-Heating Foods Safe/What are Self-Heating Foods?

 How Self-Heating Foods Work? 
How to Use Self-Heating Foods? 

             This week, some areas of the World ushered in a wave of cooling, which really made everyone feel the "cold spring". As the weather cools down, one area is heating up: self-heating foods. 

The Inventor of First Self-heating Food Can:

   About 1897,The Russian Engineer Yevgeny Fedorov invented the first self-heating can.  

It is particularly noteworthy that hot drinks have become popular on the Internet recently. From coffee, milk, to milk tea, functional drinks, and red wine, all kinds of drinks can be self-heating. As early as a few years ago, self-heating hot pot and self-heating rice have been on fire for a while. The self-heating food market, represented by self-heating hot pot, still maintains a rapid growth momentum.

However, safety incidents related to self-heating food also occur from time to time, making many people eat with trepidation. So, what is the correct "posture" for eating self-heating food? 

Operate according to the instructions

*Do not eat in a small environment

         First of all, let's understand what self-heating food is.

Self-heating food comes with a heating pack, and its temperature will rise when it encounters water. The longest keeping time is about 3 hours. When using, just put the special heat pack on the bottom of the food box, pour a cup of cold water to make steaming food.

Ingredients 

              "The main ingredients of the self-heating food heating pack include sodium carbonate, iron powder, aluminum powder, coke powder, quicklime, etc. As long as cold water is poured into the heating pack, the food pack can be quickly heated to 150 degrees Celsius, relying on chemical reactions to release heat.

However, since its launch, there have been frequent incidents of self-heating food explosions due to improper operation. Some people therefore regard self-heating food as a "time bomb" and avoid it as much as possible.

In this regard,Experts say that as long as the operation is standardized, self-heating food will not explode and if consumers can make self-heating food in strict accordance with the specifications, generally speaking, this type of food is safe; if they do not follow the specifications, there will be safety hazards.

Hidden danger. 

        Therefore, the fire department reminds consumers to read the product instructions before eating self-heating food, and strictly follow the product instructions, especially not to eat in closed and small environments such as cars and train carriages. If you use a glass dining table at home, it is best to add a thermal insulation pad under the self-heating food to prevent the glass from bursting. At the same time, after eating, you should avoid a large amount of self-heating food waste or direct contact with water; after use, heat packs should also be classified as hazardous waste and disposed of. 

The nutrition is single and the sodium content exceeds the standard, so it is not suitable for long-term consumption. 

Because self-heating food is very convenient to eat, many people will eat self-heating food frequently.

However, there is a saying circulating on the Internet:

 When heating self-heating food, the heat source is in direct contact with the food. If the temperature exceeds 65 degrees Celsius, harmful substances in it will penetrate into the food. Long-term consumption will damage the human digestive system, reproductive system, and central nervous system. System damage, serious can lead to bowel cancer. 

"Self-heating food is just reheating the food with its own heat source. The heat source does not come into direct contact with the food. It does not affect eating. This heating method is the same as heating in a pot or microwave oven." Ruan Guangfeng said. 

Are Self-Heating Foods Causing Intestinal Cancer?  

Regarding whether this kind of food can cause intestinal cancer, Feng Lin,an Endocrinology expert at  Fujian Medical University, said that the cause of intestinal cancer is very complicated, and the academic circle is still not very clear about its pathogenesis. There is currently no sufficient evidence to prove that eating Self-heating food can cause cancer.

Although eating self-heating food will not cause colon cancer, as a member of convenience food, self-heating food still has the problems of single nutritional combination and excessive sodium content, so it is not suitable for long-term consumption. 

In this regard, Liao Xiaojun, a Food and Nutrition expert say that the content of fat, salt and other ingredients seriously exceeds the standard. 

The Nutrient Composition 

 The nutrient composition table of a well-known brand of spicy and tender beef self-heating hot pot shows that the fat content of this product is 86.3 grams per 100 grams, and the nutrient reference value is 144%; the sodium content is 5.9 grams, and the nutrient reference value is 295%. Both content exceeds the recommended intake of most Nutrition Societies. Most of the nutritional content of self-heating hot pots of other brands is the same. 

     BY DR SHER JAHAN

     General Physician at

     Government Hospital Chilas 

     Northern Areas Pakistan 

     (Information includes from Chinese news)