6 health hazards of papads

Enjoy eating papad with every meal? Here are reasons to avoid eating too many of them

Papad is a staple in every Indian household. It not only used to enhance the taste but also add that extra crunch to your meal. Papads are of many types, made using different types of flours and adding various additives such as artificial flavours and colours. They are loaded with preservatives such as sodium benzoate which increase their shelf life as they have to be stored for a long period of time.

Why should you not consume too many papads?

1. High sodium benzoate content: It is commonly known as alkaline salt or papad khar and is a preservative which increases its shelf life. It acts as a fungicide and bactericide which prevent the growth of bacteria and molds, making it eligible for long term storage. Sodium benzoate has many harmful effects on your body. A research has shown that a mixture of sodium benzoate and certain artificial colours has shown to increases hyperactivity in children¹. Consuming large number of papads which are made using artificial colours may show this effect.
2. High salt content: The salt content is also due to sodium benzoate. High salt intake, needless to say, has many ill effects. It is the main reason for causing hypertension and heart disease and also causes water retention and swelling.
3. Risk of hyperacidity: The variety of papads available in the Indian market is huge and mostly with various spices, and this can cause your digestive system to go on an overdrive leading to hyperacidity.
4. High absorption of oil:Papads are crunchier if they are fried, and most Indian household prefer frying them over roasting. The oil which is consumed along with the fried papad leads to increased cholesterol levels which have its own ill effects like atherosclerosis and other cardiovascular diseases.
5. Roasted Papads are not safe: Contrary to the popular belief that roasted papads are healthier over fried ones, a research has proved that when papads are roasted, fried or microwave roasted, acrylamide, a probable carcinogen or cancer-causing sunstance² , is formed due to its alkaline salt (sodium benzoate) content. But the formation of acrylamide is maximum when the papads are roasted and the least when they are microwave roasted. So as a healthier option, flame roasting or frying papads should be avoided.³
6. May be made inunhygienic conditions: The ways in which papads are made are another concern. After being rolled out are sun dried, usually in the open, they are exposed to many air pollutants. Also the surfaces that they are kept on while drying could have a large variety of micro organisms which further contaminate them.

References:

1- Committee on toxicity of chemicals in food, consumer products and the environment- Statement on research project (T07040) investigating the effect of mixtures of certain food colours and a preservative on behaviour in children.

2- Mottram DS, Wedzicha BL, Dodson AT. Acrylamide is formed in the Maillard reaction. Nature. 2002 Oct 3;419(6906):448-9. PubMed PMID: 12368844.

3- Shaikh Merajfatima, Tarade Kavita, Bharadwaj Vikas, Annapure Uday, Singhal Rekha. Effect of an alkaline salt (papad khar) and its substitute (2:1 sodium carbonate: sodium bicarbonate) on acrylamide formation in papads. Food Chemistry 01/2009 DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2008.08.05

Image source: Getty Images

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