Detecting Vietnamese color dyed fruits.

by tonytran2015 (Melbourne, Australia).

Click here for a full, up to date ORIGINAL ARTICLE and to help fighting the stealing of readers’ traffic.

(Blog No.3xx).

#food dyes, #industrial dyes, #unapproved ingredients, #toxic ingredients, #toxic food test, #rubbing on skin test,

In Vietnam even “fresh” fruits are often dyed or laced in (approved or prohibited) chemicals which enhence their shelf-lives, tastes, flavors and looks. This is an additional hazard beside hazardous chemically treated (artificially flavored and colored) cooked foods [1].

When eating “fresh” fruits in Vietnam, consumers have to avoid those laced in unknown (and often harmful) chemicals.

1. Detecting color dyed fruits.

Figure 1: Cut halves of REAL, NATURAL strawberry fruits from Australia. The detailed structure of the cut fruits is almost unimmitable.

You may encounter artificially dyed fruits when eating cakes or dessert dishes (such as ice cream) sprinkled with cut pieces of strawberry fruits in Vietnam. These pieces of strawberry always have deep red color there. They are actual strawberry pieces but they have been dyed in some unknown deep red chemicals. The dye would quickly and strongly stain any adjacent piece of food such as ice cream or even a paper serviette or tissue in contact with those cut pieces of fruits.An effective strategy for detection of dyes would be:

a/- Checking for the texture of highly colored parts of the fruit against that of known samples.

Natural colors of a fruit are made from a multitude of components, they cannot be cheaply immitated using only a few cheap, unselective (non-discriminating) dyes.

The illustrative photo of this section shows real fruits with highly detailed texture having many colors and shades. On the other hand dyed strawberry fruits in Vietnam only have an overly dark deep red color.

b/- Checking for affinity of colors toward adjacent items.

Natural components of any fruit are rarely strong dyes otherwise dye makers and users would have known that type of fruits as a source of strong dyes!

c/- Checking for the hue and brightness of the color. Natural colors are usually not very bright and not fluorescent (Chilly sauce in Vietnam often has a strong bright fluorescent red color while real chillies have no such attractive color.). When an Asian food has unusually bright colours, it may have been dyed with unapproved, unsafe industrial dyes.

d/- Always think that any unfamiliar (especially Asian) food may be poisonous and test it by checking for your allergy against it by smearing it on the inside of the elbow, on your neck, on your cheek, on the outside of your lips in that order. If no allergy reaction is found, start with consuming only a small amount of that food before eating the whole meal in the following day. (The tests may not be quite friendly to your party dresses!)

2. Practicing your fake detection skills.

When selecting fruits:Pay attention to the look, firmness and smell of the fruit. At one time (2012) I even discovered that I had in my own fridge an innocent looking green apple which had no rot at all even after spending 6 months in that fridge (set at 5 degree C)!

See if knowledgeable locals consume those fruits from the seller.

Be wary if the seller has neither of his old nor young family members consuming those fruits.

3. Avoiding eating fruits treated by undesirable chemicals.

You can avoid eating those fruits treated by undesirable chemicals by sticking to the following guides:

a/- Bring with you or buy only fruits imported from trusted countries (having strong compliance with food regulations).

b/- Rather eat canned fruits from trusted countries than “fresh” fruits of unknown origin.

c/- Eat only local fruits grown by knowledgeable trusted locals.

References.

[1]. The agonizing choice of Vietnamese food dishes, https://survivaltricks.wordpress.com/2017/09/27/the-agonizing-choice-of-vietnamese-food-dishes/

[2]. https://www.naturalnews.com/2017-09-05-top-8-carcinogenic-food-additives-and-ingredients-banned-nearly-everywhere-in-the-world-except-wait-for-it-the-united-states-of-america.html

[3]. https://freespeechtwentyfirstcentury.com/2017/05/12/parasites-could-be-lurking-in-your-sushi-doctors-warn/

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Rice as emergency food., posted December 24, 2016

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Air-grown mung bean sprouts for food.

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The agonizing choice of Vietnamese food dishes.

by tonytran2015 (Melbourne, Australia).

Click here for a full, up to date ORIGINAL ARTICLE and to help fighting the stealing of readers’ traffic.

(Blog No.87).

#food dyes, #industrial dyes, #unapproved ingredients, #toxic ingredients, #Roasted Chicken with Crispy Skin, #Ga Chien Gion Da, #toxic food test, #rubbing on skin test,

When encountering a new food, the choice is sometimes an agony: Eating it may save your life or may also kill you or injure your digestive system. The following is an account of my real life experience. I quickly got over it by being alert and applying my learned habits for survival.

1. Nutritious or Toxic food?

Figure 1: Nutritious or Toxic food? Roasted Chicken with crispy skin served with rice from shop 1

Figure 2: Nutritious or Toxic food? Roasted Chicken with crispy skin served with rice from shop 2

This is an account of actual events happened to me.

There are two Vietnamese restaurants in Melbourne selling two similar dishes (in September 2017). The dishes are for you to choose, they are both sold at $12AUD. Since I wanted to write some introduction to tasty Vietnamese foods, I usually take photos of any interesting dish I ordered before consuming it. That is why I happened to have the photos.

The two photos are taken in September 2017. The dish is name Roasted Chicken with Crispy Skin (Vietnamese Gà Chiên Giòn Da) served with Rice.

My friends and me went to the first restaurant, one dish of Roasted Chicken (one of the photo) was ordered and consumed by one of my friends. Two days later, we went to the second restaurant few doors from the first one, I ordered a similar dish from the second restaurant (the other photo). Three hours after eating it I had stomach cramp, diarrhea, burning sensation on the inside of mouth, ulcer lasting five days on my gum. The stomach cramps subsides after I pass out all the ingestion, assisted by my consumption of a lot of milk. About one week later, after my recovery, we went to the first restaurant and I saw my friend still eating the same dish with no problem.

So I thought that I may have had allergy with roasted chicken (The hypothesis had to be considered but it was highly unlikely as I have had no problem consuming chicken meat dishes in both Australia and Vietnam.), so I cautiously ate parts of the dish there (similar to that my friend had eaten and had no problem after consumption), and few days later I ate the whole dish, still with no problem. So I found out that I did not have any allergy with roasted chicken!

So WHY did I have the the stomach cramp and the burning sensation in my mouth after eating a similar dish at the second restaurant? You should think about it before reading any further. You should examine the two photos to find any possible explanation.

2. Please think to practice your survival skills.

You should think about it before reading any further.

Intentional blank space

You should think about it before reading any further.

Intentional blank space

3. The cause of the problem.

I did not have any allergy with chicken meat, as I has been eating lot of chicken dishes in both Australia and Vietnam.

As I had been to Vietnam, I had previously experienced some symptoms of ingesting unapproved food dyes and food additives: Burning sensation on the interior of the mouth, ulcer on the interior of the mouth.

The problem may had been caused by the wholesales supplier to the second restaurant switching its supplies. Therefore, the second restaurant may had used some unapproved ingredients in its preparation of its dishes.

I suspected that I had consumed unapproved food dyes in their dish of “Roasted Chicken with Crispy Skin served with Rice”.

When I rechecked the photos of the two dishes taken with the same camera, I noticed the unusual colour of the chicken pieces from the second restaurant (the second photo) and the bright colour of the sauce accompanying the dish (but I had not consumed any such sauce). Checking on the current number of clients frequenting the second restaurant (serving the dish in the second photo) I found out that it has dropped down to 1/4 of what it was one year ago.

So I have all reasonable reasons to believe that the second restaurant has used unapproved food dyes (industrial dyes instead of food dyes). The problem is at plague level in Vietnam and now it has spread to Australia since Vietnamese food ingredients are specialty foods not subjected to rigorous testing standards when imported into Australia.

4. Lessons learned.

1. A trusted restaurant may still provide you with unsafe food when its wholesaler changed its supplies.

2. When an Asian food has unusually bright colours, it may have been dyed with unapproved, unsafe industrial dyes (see figure 2).

3. Always think that any unfamiliar (especially Asian) food may be poisonous and test it by checking for your allergy against it by smearing it on the inside of the elbow, on your neck, on your cheek, on the outside of your lips in that order. If no allergy reaction is found, start with consuming only a small amount of that food before eating the whole meal in the following day. (The tests may not be quite friendly to your party dresses!)

4. Only eat in a restaurant where you can see the owner and the cook eating that same meal as you.

5. When I was eating in Vietnam, I befriended and always shared my food with the pet cat of the restaurant owner. She has far more sensitive taste and smell than any human. Any change in taste or smell of the food would be noticed by my trusted four legged friend ! Be kind to animals and you may be well rewarded!

5. Notes from previous experiences.

A/- ” Always think that any new (especially Asian) food may be poisonous and test it by checking for your allergy against it by smearing it on the inside of the elbow, on your neck, on your cheek, on the outside of your lips in that order. If no allergy reaction is found, start with consuming only a small amount of that food before eating the whole meal in the following day. ” has saved me from a Vietnamese “bubble cup” (Trà Sữa Trân Châu) in Saigon.
After biting the first grain, I noticed a swelling of my lips. Going through this test I discovered that the grains cause the swelling !

B/- Many Vietnamese dishes of Roasted Quails are heavily laced with Mono-sodium-gluatamate (which still has not been banned!). I can tell if I have ingested monosodium glutamate by the following symptoms:

a. back of neck suddenly becomes hot (ingesting small amount)

b. following by Light Headaches (ingesting medium amount)

c. following by Severe Headaches (ingest large amount), severe thirst, swollen esophagus causing breathing difficulty and swollen ankles of day long duration.

C/- Some years ago, one of my Caucasian friend consumed “Sweet and Sour Pork” laced with lots of Mono-sodium-glutamate and had her esophagus swollen to the point that she was sent to hospital in Melbourne in an ambulance.