The case of poisoning caused by eating silage salted carp in Quang Nam, which killed 1 person and left many emergency workers in critical condition, is a warning to people to be more careful in using unsafe fermented foods. safe.
Unsafe pickled fish can contain bacteria that cause fatal poisoning. So what regarding the risks of pickled meats or fermented pork rolls? What to do to ensure safety when using traditional salted meat and fish foods?
1. Pickled meat, a specialty of mountainous people
Pickled meat is a traditional specialty of the Tay, Muong, and Dao ethnic groups in some mountainous provinces such as Hoa Binh, Ha Giang, Tuyen Quang, and Yen Bai.
Pickled meat has many different recipes depending on the taste of each ethnic group. However, the main raw material is still pork (usually pork belly); salt, rice ear, some spices such as red rice leaves, galangal …
The pickled meat of the Dao people in Tuyen Quang uses pork cut into pieces, then marinate the meat with a lot of salt, rub it vigorously with your hands to let the salt soak into the meat.
People use glutinous rice or glutinous rice cooked into rice, then scooped out to cool and squeeze evenly into the meat. Each piece of meat, following being salted, is mixed with a little cold rice (so that the rice absorbs the salt when it dissolves to make the meat less salty) and then placed in a jar, on top of which, a thick layer of cold rice is added and pressed tightly with your hands.
In addition to cold rice, people also take leaves such as red rice leaves, galangal, washed, drained, pounded and mixed with pork and then silage.
The silage process can take from 5 days to half a month or even longer, depending on the weather in each season. When the meat is cooked, it can be eaten.
The dish of pickled meat of the Muong in Hoa Binh is prepared a little differently. After sliced pork, marinated with crushed dried galangal, salt, and then mixed with forest leaf yeast, yellow sticky rice wine.
The rice is fragrant and then pounded into flour. The marinated meat is put in a pot for incubation, lined with banana leaves, then sprinkled with roasted rice flour mixed with salt, for each layer of meat, alternating a layer of rice flour until it is full, then compressed, set aside. to the firewood stove.
After regarding 1-2 weeks, following the yeast, yeast and galangal are absorbed into the meat, the product will have a sour, salty and greasy taste. When used, can be eaten with a variety of leaves.
Red rice meat and fish sauce dish of the Tay people in Yen Bai.
Raw materials for making fish sauce of the Tay people in Yen Bai are indispensable red rice leaves, galangal and laksa leaves.
To make sour meat with red rice leaves, people use minced bacon, salted, mixed with galangal root, a little laksa leaves, red rice and fragrant sticky rice. Then put it all in a jar and tie it tightly with nylon and incubate for regarding 1 week, when the meat has been hunted and has a bright red color, it can be eaten.
2. Spring rolls
In addition to sour meat, spring rolls are also a popular traditional dish in many localities made from raw pork.
To make nem chua, people choose delicious pork, pound it finely, add spices such as: rice ear, salt, pepper, sugar, garlic, chili, mixed with pork skin. Then, pack it with guava leaves or fig leaves, clove leaves…
The outside of spring rolls is wrapped with a thick layer of banana leaves. The thicker the layer of banana leaves, the faster the fermentation process and the longer the flavor of the dish is preserved. Leave for regarding 3-5 days when spring rolls have a sour taste, they can be eaten.
3. Potential dangers when eating unsafe salted meat and spring rolls
According to Assoc. Dr. Nguyen Duy Thinh, former Lecturer of the Institute of Food and Biotechnology, University of Science and Technology, all fresh foods whose raw materials and processing methods do not meet safety standards are at risk of poisoning. poison.
There are many types of bacteria that can exist in food. Food can be contaminated during production, processing and improper storage, not cooked thoroughly, contaminated hands touch food, expired food, cross-contamination…
Symptoms of food poisoning are usually abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, dehydration, electrolyte disturbances… Severe poisoning can be fatal if not treated promptly.
The cases of bacterial poisoning often account for a high proportion of food poisoning caused by bacteria such as: Salmonella, E.coli, Escherichiacoli, Listeria, Campylobacter, Bacillus cereus, Vibrio, Clostridium botulinum…
In particular, Clostridium botulinum (the type of bacteria identified in the pickled carp that caused poisoning to the victims in Quang Nam) is a very toxic bacteria.
Clostridium botulinum bacteria are abundant in the environment and can be found in many foods. Botulinum is a toxin that is produced in an anaerobic environment with unsanitary conditions. Botulinum is more virulent than the toxins of all other bacteria and is potentially lethal.
If processed food is not safe with bacterial spores and is tightly packed in bottles, boxes, bags, etc., it will create conditions for bacteria to grow and release botulinum toxin (also known as meat toxin). in product
Thus, when botulinum toxin is available in the product, people who eat it will be poisoned. Depending on the high or low content of toxins in the product, people who eat it can be in danger, even die if not treated promptly.
The bacterium Clostridium botulinum is highly virulent.
4. What to do to ensure safety when using traditional salted meat and fish foods?
Due to the needs of consumers, on the market today, there are many products of pickled meat, pickled fish, spring rolls, etc. In fact, these dishes are all traditional dishes for a long time. However, if raw materials, processing conditions and processing procedures are not safe, the risk of infection with bacteria causing poisoning is very high.
Assoc. Dr. Nguyen Duy Thinh recommends that, in order to ensure the safety of traditional fermented foods, the processing method must ensure safety from raw materials to the food fermentation process: raw materials must be fresh, clean, and not contaminated with bacteria. ; Processors hands, processing areas and food containers must be carefully cleaned…
If consumers do not know how to prepare their own products according to standards, consumers can buy ready-made products in the market. However, it should be noted: only use products of clear origin; products are manufactured at reputable licensed establishments, inspected, certified, and supervised for food safety; Products are stored according to standards.
For pickled meat products, it is important to note that the finished product is satisfactory, the product has a good smell, has no signs of damage and is stored properly.
As for the types of spring rolls, following the spring rolls are ripe, it is necessary to store the spring rolls separately in the refrigerator or in the freezer if the quantity is large and you want to use them longer. However, it is also not advisable to keep spring rolls in the refrigerator for too long to avoid cross-contamination or quality loss and the risk of producing harmful toxins.