3 ms·
Liquid smoke is an interesting one. It seems like most of the really harmful compounds in smoke are fat soluble. Since liquid smoke is water-based, a lot of tho
by steve_adams_86 4y ago
Liquid smoke is an interesting one. It seems like most of the really harmful compounds in smoke are fat soluble. Since liquid smoke is water-based, a lot of those compounds don't make it into the mix once everything is filtered.
It does contain small amounts of known carcinogens, but if you compare a teaspoon of your average liquid smoke product to say, smoked salmon, the liquid will be a tiny fraction of the safe limit while the salmon will tend to greatly exceed safe limits.
I'm not suggesting everyone should consume liquid smoke, and I agree, this is essentially junk food. You just put two question marks beside something I happen to know a bit about.
The main takeaway with smoked products is that they can be remarkably harmful to your health, with the exception of proper usage of liquid smoke. That can be hard to hear because good god, smoked food is delicious.
Smoked plant foods (i.e. tofu or tempeh) don't seem to carry nearly as much risk as smoked animal foods. I'm not sure why, but I think it is known.
This study is 30 years old, but offers some insight into risk factors for meats vs liquid smoke: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8224319/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8224319/
Since very small amounts of the liquid are used, one would end up ingesting ~1/40th or less of the carcinogenic compounds compares to if they, for example, ate a grilled pork chop.
> Total PAH concentrations in smoked meat products ranged from 2.6 micrograms/kg in a cooked ham sample to 29.8 micrograms/kg in grilled pork chops, while those in fish products ranged from 9.3 micrograms/kg in smoked shrimp to 86.6 micrograms/kg in smoked salmon.
Of course smoked salmon is the tastiest one on the list
- t_mann 4y agoInteresting thanks. Yeah, I had smoked products down as something unusually unhealthy compared to the taste benefits. Interesting to learn about liquid smoke.
- boppo1 4y agoWhat about my beloved islay whisky?
- steve_adams_86 4y agoSeems like it should be similar to liquid smoke in that it's in water and alcohol after being filtered, so, it should contain much less of the bad stuff than the barrel initially contained. These compounds can sometimes dissolve into water or alcohol, but it seems rare and the larger, filterable compounds are only soluble in lipids (according to wikipedia). That's not to say the whisky is good for you (great podcast on alcohol and health): https://hubermanlab.com/what-alcohol-does-to-your-body-brain-health/ https://hubermanlab.com/what-alcohol-does-to-your-body-brain...
- quesera 4y ago> Total PAH concentrations ... 86.6 micrograms/kg in smoked salmon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polycyclic_aromatic_hydrocarbon#Human_health https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polycyclic_aromatic_hydrocarbo... I was a happier person, approximately seven minutes ago.
- michaelbuckbee 4y agoAlso fwiw a teaspoon of liquid smoke would absolutely overwhelm whatever you were putting it on, in most recipes a few drops are more than sufficient.
- porknubbins 4y agoSomething is off here though, grilled pork chops wouldn’t necessarily be exposed to smoke, just maybe the PAH coming from charred areas which could happen to any meat. Using bad or wet charcoal you get what BBQ people refer to as a “creosote” taste, ie bitter unpleasant white smoke. Still if a 10 min pork chop could be that bad I can only imagine that a 5 hour smoked brisket would be absolutely off the chart.
- steve_adams_86 4y agoI think you’re right - foods like this seem like they should be once per year indulgences rather than weekly or biweekly. And yes, it is an odd discrepancy but smoked and grilled foods are combined in a few of the studies I came across. I suppose they both contain the same carcinogens, and the goal was only to measure those carcinogens and not so much to evaluate specific foods.