The study released by the Hong Kong Center for Food Safety said it ****collected 133 food samples, including meat, vegetables, beans and wheat products, between 2010 and 2011. It was found that 47% of the food samples contained acrylamide, a potentially carcinogenic substance, with snacks containing the highest amount, at an average of 680 micrograms per kilogram, followed by vegetables and their products, at an average of 53 micrograms per kilogram.

The center also sent 22 vegetable samples to the laboratory, where they were dry-fried without cooking oil on induction cookers with 1200 and 1600 watts of power for 3 and 6 minutes, respectively.

Results: High-temperature heating of zucchini produced the most carcinogens

Zucchini released the most acrylamide after high-temperature heating, with an average of up to 360 micrograms per kilogram, which was only lower than snacks such as potato chips (680 micrograms) and French fries (390 micrograms). Garlic and onion released an average of 200 micrograms and 150 micrograms of acrylamide per kilogram after cooking at high temperatures, ranking second and third respectively. In addition, air-cuts (140 micrograms), bell peppers (140 micrograms), eggplants (77 micrograms), kale (61 micrograms), loofahs (60 micrograms), celery (54 micrograms), and mustard greens (52 micrograms) all made it into the top ten. In contrast, lettuce, spinach and amaranth released less acrylamide after frying, averaging less than 10 micrograms per kilogram.

In addition, it was also found that the longer the frying time and the higher the temperature, the more acrylamide released from the vegetables, adding cooking oil frying and dry frying test results were not different.

Question: how to eat zucchini, not carcinogenic?

Vegetables such as zucchini contain a variety of amino acids, and thus high temperature release of acrylamide more. Stir frying this cooking method can produce acrylamide, but the fault is not in the vegetables themselves, but the trouble with high temperatures, the correct way of cooking should be "hot pot cold oil", low-temperature cooking.

Experts said that the hot pot cold oil, refers to the first pot is hot, and then into the cooking oil. This can reduce the production of fumes, but also to avoid destroying the vitamins and nutrients in the vegetables. Cooking at low temperatures reduces the oxidation of monounsaturated fatty acids in cooking oil, which also prevents the production of carcinogens, and reduces the probability of the cook suffering from lung cancer due to the fumes from the oil. In addition, try not to cut vegetables into thin slices when processing, because the thinner the faster the heat, the more likely to release acrylamide

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