Surviving in the land of food scandals

Surviving in the land of food scandals:

Published on Jan 01, 2013, The Straits Times
By Grace Ng, China Correspondent

I thought I have seen it all. After almost four years working, living and eating in Beijing, I figured I had become more zen about food safety scandals.

After all, over the years, I have collected copious tips from my local friends about how to fight this “bao wei zhan” (battle to protect the gut), which I have religiously followed.

For instance, after the spate of news from 2009 onwards about fake eggs made from resin, artificial beef made from reconstituted pork, and lean pork treated with the steroid clenbutero, I diligently rotated my meat sources. It was the Korean beef store one week, Walmart supermarket the next, and then the organic pork store.

I even hunted around the Chaoyang and Haidian districts - which together are larger than the size of Singapore - for Muslim vendors selling Halal chicken.

This was after a Chinese friend earnestly told me: “It’s better to buy your food from someone with religious beliefs – they are less likely to 'shua shou duan' (use dirty tricks).”

But it wasn’t so straight-forward when it came to getting rid of chemicals, mercury, growth hormones and other dodgy substances that local vegetables and fruit reportedly contain nowadays.

“Soak your vegetables overnight with tap water and vinegar to get rid of the chemicals and mercury,” said my part-time helper, whom I have hired to cook food so I wouldn’t ingest too much “gutter oil” from restaurants.

I tried her advice for a few weeks until another friend sounded a warning on tap water.

“Much of Beijing’s tap water has excessive amounts of lead. Use filtered water and salt instead,” she said. So I complied, and my water bill doubled.

“Just plant your own organic vegetables, only then can you be sure you won’t be poisoned,” an academic advised.

So I drove two hours out to an organic vegetable farm in the suburbs that rented out small plots of land to city folk looking to grow chemical-free crops in the summer.

But my endeavour was quickly thwarted when a local farm hand told me that they would spray pesticides on the vegetables behind their customers’ backs.

So I started buying imported frozen vegetables. Also, whenever my family visited me from Singapore, I would make them haul everything from dried apricots to rice that was certified not to be genetically modified. My mother once busted the baggage weight limit by 15kg.

But I rationalised that this was worthwhile after the horrific episode of a watermelon exploding in my living room two years ago! The fruit had been sprayed with so much “fast-ripening” chemical that it imploded in my living room in a spectacular spray of grey goo.

Luckily, no one was injured though the incident scarred me and my family members so badly that we didn’t dare to eat any watermelon – let alone that shattered one – for a few weeks.

Still, after more than three years of paranoia and protecting the gut, it can get quite exhausting sometimes.

So, recently, I decided to just chill and follow the mantra of some Chinese netizens: “guo ren bai du bu jin” (Chinese people will not fall to a thousand poisons).

After all, even with all my exertions, I was still suffering food poisoning bouts at the same rate as when I first came to Beijing.

So I figured I should just let my Singaporean stomach – which was perhaps too sanitised – and immune system get acclimatised to, well, more local poisons.

But my “embrace-my-inner-toxins” spell lasted just a few months.

When a news report on Dec 23 in Beijing media cited a food safety researcher claiming that many Chinese sauces, vinegar and drinks all contain relatively high amounts of the cancer-causing plastic additive, plasticiser, I freaked out.

That was one area I never took precautions for.

Initially, I tried to comfort myself by noting that the authorities had not yet verified such reports. But my friends, especially those with young kids, were already having melt-downs. My friends and I thought that after the government banned Taiwanese food imports that carried high levels of plasticiser in June 2011, the issue would have been high on the authorities’ radar.

“How are we going to protect our kids from the food they eat?” fumed my Beijinger friend, who has a toddler.

This latest food scandal made me realise that there is no way I can keep up with the seemingly unending list of food items that might have higher risks of contamination. I decided to stick to buying only the products I knew were safe, even if it meant doubling the grocery bill or eating the same thing every week.

But it doesn’t mean one should deem it a losing battle and simply give up.

Over time, China’s food safety record could improve as the government takes tougher action. But for now, I am not going to take any chances for the sake of my family’s health.

So the dictum, “What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger”, is out of the window again.

Now, I’ve started making a new long list of food items – soya sauce included – for the next unfortunate friend or relative coming to visit me.

So begins part two of the gut-protecting battle.

graceng@sph.com.sg

17种食物提高脑力

17种食物提高脑力:

(2012-02-26)

改善健康离不开良好的饮食，吃对食物有助于提高脑力。据美国营养学家迈克·莫雷诺博士最近罗列17种食物以助提高脑力：

●瘦牛排：含矿物质铁，有助改善记忆力，提高注意力。
●甜菜：含氨基酸苯丙氨酸，有助增强脑细胞之间的联络。
●蓝莓：多种抗氧化剂和花色苷的绝佳来源，可保护脑细胞不受毒素侵害，促进大脑对葡萄糖的利用，增强脑细胞相互联系。
●西蓝花：含抗氧化剂和植物营养素，有助于保护大脑组织免受毒素侵害。
●胡萝卜：富含β胡萝卜素和其他自然营养物，有助于保护大脑组织。
●鸡肉：富含氨基酸酪氨酸，有助产生多巴胺、肾上腺素和去甲肾上腺素。大脑中的这些物质可以使思维更敏捷，反应更迅速，感觉注意力集中，精力更充沛。
●柑橘：含大量维生素C等抗氧化剂，有助于保持敏锐的记忆力，防止大脑细胞受损。
●毛豆：含氨基酸苯丙氨酸，增强脑细胞之间的联络。
●鸡蛋：含B族维生素胆碱，有助于改善记忆力。
●蛋白：含蛋白质，可提高肾上腺素水平，提升大脑的敏锐度。
●辣椒：含辣椒素，刺激循环、帮助消化、打通鼻子、直接向大脑传递欣快感。
●豆荚：含大量的葡萄糖可为大脑提供能量，丰富的纤维素和降低葡萄糖吸收速度，帮助稳定体内能量，保持警觉度和注意力。
●猪肉：含维生素B1，可保护脑细胞相互联系所必需的脂肪物质髓磷脂。
●长叶莴苣：含大量B族维生素叶酸，有益记忆力和神经细胞健康。
●菠菜：富含矿物质铁，有助改善记忆力，提高警觉度和注意力。
●金枪鱼：富含omega3脂肪酸，有助于产生和保持髓磷脂，促进脑细胞联系。
●酸奶：多项研究发现，酸奶等有益菌食物可促进大脑警觉度。
（原载中国《科技日报》）

《联合早报》
（编辑：孟鑫）