The recommendation is from 2011, but it has gone viral these days, with Christmas Eve around the corner and seafood already in many fridges: "You should not suck the head of the prawns because of its high content of cadmium ."
The council was formulated by the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AECOSAN) eight years ago in a statement that indicated that the levels of this heavy metal, which accumulates in the body and is toxic to the kidney, are especially high in the head of prawns, prawns, crayfish and the body of crustaceans such as crabs.
"The available data suggest that the intake of cadmium when the head is consumed is four times the intake that would be obtained by consuming only the abdomen," underlines the text, which, in short, recommends that "be limited, to the extent of the possible, the consumption of dark meat of the crustaceans, located in the head, with the aim of reducing the exposure to cadmium ".
The greatest risk of cadmium, which "accumulates mainly in viscera such as the liver or kidney", explains Beatriz Roblez, specialist in Nutrition and Dietetics and Food Technology, is that it is toxic to the kidney, and can cause renal dysfunction and Ultimately, cancer . In addition, it has also been associated with the appearance of bone problems .
Although cadmium is a metal that is found in the environment naturally, it is also present as a result of human activity (fertilizers, mining, burning fossil fuels), continues the expert, who recalls that the main source of exposure to People to cadmium is through food. "It also accumulates in the kidney and liver of animals, so it goes to the food chain."
Due to this, the highest levels occur in edible offal and also in shellfish, since the hepatopancreas of these animals is located in the head.
"The European Food Safety Agency established in 2009 a tolerable weekly intake of 2.5 micrograms of cadmium per kilogram of body weight. With these data, each country has made recommendations based on its culinary culture. And, while in some countries no it has been necessary to warn about the risks of consuming the heads, because they do not ingest them, in Spain it is an appropriate recommendation, "emphasizes the specialist.
"It is advisable not to suck neither the prawn heads nor the body of the crabs, but the appendages or the legs in the case of the crabs can be consumed , because their cadmium content is not high," Robles recalls. In the case of fumet, or broth that is prepared using crustacean heads, it should be borne in mind that the dose of cadmium is also lower, since it is more dissolved.
In any case, Robles remembers that it is not a new food alert that should alarm the population. In fact, he emphasizes, there are much higher risks associated with Christmas excesses.
Alcohol is the main example. "There is no alcohol consumption that involves a zero risk," says the expert. It has been shown to cause serious damage to the liver or pancreas and significantly increases the chances of developing cancer, "but we tend to minimize them," he says.
The same goes for tobacco . "Smoking causes cancer, among many other problems, but as saying it is not a novelty, it seems that we do not make the same case," he says.
What happened with acrylamide a few years ago was a phenomenon similar to what we are living now, he continues. This chemical is created naturally in foods containing starch during high temperature cooking processes. "Suddenly we began to look suspiciously at the toaster. But tobacco also contains acrylamide, and nobody stops smoking because of acrylamide," he reflects.
Excessive sedentary lifestyle, binge eating or abusing sweets at this time, pose, especially in vulnerable groups, very high health risks. However, we have not just been afraid of them.
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