How to identify tofu containing plaster

How to distinguish common tofu and tofu containing plaster

Because of profits, many business people have combined gypsum powder in the process of tofu production, adversely affecting consumers' health. To ensure the health and safety of the family, you should pay attention to not buy tofu containing plaster.

Near the house, there is a Northern tofu shop, which has just opened, soft and hot beans, different from the hard beans often purchased before, Ms Nhan, living in Binh Thanh, Ho Chi Minh City becomes a regular customer. According to her, tofu here is soft, hard to process but much better than selling at the market. The owner of the bean shop explains good beans by not using gypsum, which is less profitable than other places but safe for people to eat.

"I thought that the harder beans get, the more pure beans we have, and now we know the opposite. How do we distinguish tofu with plaster?" , Ms. Nhan wondered.

Gypsum is a substance that acts as a fast, easy-to-thickener, and is often used in tofu production.(Photo: LP)

Learn how to make a tofu boat (Cao Cao) at home, Ms. Tuyen in District 2, Ho Chi Minh City, also bewildered because of too many conflicting information about using additives to make beans."People say that using gypsum to buy in a North pharmacy will be okay, people in general will be very toxic, so I don't know what to follow," she said. When going out to eat, she was told by the saleswoman that the tofu did not use plaster but still found it hard to believe.

Assoc. Nguyen Van Suc, Dean of the Department of Chemical and Food Technology, HCM City University of Technical Education said that gypsum is a substance that has fast-acting, easy-to-solidify properties, so it is often used in tofu and tofu production . Usually tofu is traditionally made, to create precipitation, to make beans into molds, it is possible to use sour vinegar or use the tofu itself to make silage. In this way, the amount of tofu precipitates very little. Meanwhile, if you put gypsum in the pot to cook the beans, the bean scum will rise faster, the amount of bean scum can increase more than doubled.

Tofu containing gypsum is usually very hard, heavy-handed than traditional beans.(Photo: LP)

According to an associate professor, gypsum is a substance that can be used in high-purity food processing and for use in a dose allowed for calcium supplementation. The type used in this food is much more expensive than industrial plaster.

Associate Professor Nguyen Van Suc said that gypsum for industrial use is mainly composed of impure calcium sulphate containing many impurities, including heavy metals such as lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd) . very toxic. unhealthy. On the other hand, when a large amount of gypsum enters the body, the digestive system will be affected by the plaster that attaches to the intestinal wall, which disrupts the digestive system. Using tofu with high levels of large jelly will lead to kidney diseases.

' Based on the senses, tofu containing gypsum is often very hard, heavy-handed than traditional beans. The more plaster you use, the harder the piece of tofu is. So when buying, choose soft, softer beans, ' said the assistant professor of analysis. If produced by traditional methods, young tofu uses less additives so it is good for health.

Safe tofu will have the aroma, the typical fatty taste of soybeans, just like when you eat a hot soymilk.

When buying tofu, pay attention to the cover of the bean piece, if the hard bean cover when exposed to the air will be oxidized to yellow. The more yellow the tofu is, the more gypsum it contains.

According to popular experience, tofu (not to eat) should be eaten at the bottom layer of the tank because of the risk of deposition of many health-causing plaster.(Photo: LP)

Some housewives who make tofu at home also wonder whether they should use genlatin instead of gypsum, or choose gypsum bought at a North store to be safe. According to Mr. Suc, in Japan, some biological polymers are used to flocculate in processing tofu such as gelatin or chitosan to replace gypsum, however, it is necessary to use purified food. The majority of gypsum sold in the North drug store is also an impure kind taken from gypsum mines containing a lot of impurities including heavy metals, very dangerous radioactive elements.