Bad news for Merken lovers

[eeuunikkeiexpat]

The carcinogenic mold can also be present in any fruit based product - juice, jams, preserves, dried fruits, tomato sauce.

No way to sterilize contaminated products.

Daily consumption over five years can cause kidney problems and kidney, colon, testicular cancer.

Takes around a month for the body to eliminate.

Las diez cosas que debes saber sobre la micotoxina presente en el merkén
http://www.soychile.cl/Santiago/Socieda ... erken.aspx

[papageno]

Well, crap. My stash of both is now headed for the trash. Good post, thanks.

[susiedillon]

And had I just finished congratulating myself that I had not bought the Marco Polo brand last time!! Oh no, I had bought the GOurmet brand! I also had a half dozen sachets of Washington brand that I was going to give to friends in Canada - but who knows where the contents of that brand originated? So out they go too! I will miss my Merken! Love it on icy-cold melon with a lemon juice, honey, chopped mint and ginger dressing in the summer. Yummy .... but no more for this year, anyway!

[admin]

first, the crap they sell at the grocery stores is not Merken (i.e. Marco Polo brands and Gourmet). I have no idea what it is, but it is tasteless red crap they make for people from Santiago that freak out at the sight of a black pepper shaker.

It is probably the same tasteless red crap they sell next to it as "cayenne pepper", that is next to the other bag of tasteless red crap they sell as "chile powder", and so on, so on.

Real Merken, comes from one little old Mapuche lady that sits in a certain corner, at a certain time of day, at the Temuco market (the real one, not the tourist market), and you have to know the secret handshake to get the good stuff.

Every thing else is an imitation, and probably does cause cancer.

Which leads me to the the none-article that was precanned tastless crap itself, so some reporter could go on vacation. Like count the number of "news reports" this time of year that are about food, tourism, etc, that could have been written or produced at any time of year, and are probably recycled every year.

1- ¿Cómo se genera esta micotoxina?: el moho que la produce necesita un ambiente húmedo y de baja luminosidad para generarse. El error en estos casos pudo haber sido donde comenzó la cadena con el proveedor, "por ejemplo de los productores de ají, que puede ser que mantuvieron su cosecha en un lugar húmedo". O bien, cuando la empresa trabajó el condimento, lo guardaron en un lugar donde probablemente no haya cumplido las condiciones.

In other words, why did you write this article and what does it specifically have to do with merken?

I guess don't store your merken in a plastic bag? perhaps?

And by the way, why would anyone eat merken in sufficient quantities for this to even be a concern?

Like If I am really going wild, with real strong Merken, say making a big pot of the hottest texas Chile I can, I might use a table spoon; but, that is very, very rare.

[eeuunikkeiexpat]

From the article, it is not confined to merken (and from the details, definitely not confined to some watered down and cut factory product) and there is no way to detect it or kill it in a contaminated product.

I guess don't store your merken in a plastic bag? perhaps?

Every time I've bought the real deal on the street, it was in a plastic bag.

1- ¿Cómo se genera esta micotoxina?: el moho que la produce necesita un ambiente húmedo y de baja luminosidad para generarse. El error en estos casos pudo haber sido donde comenzó la cadena con el proveedor, "por ejemplo de los productores de ají, que puede ser que mantuvieron su cosecha en un lugar húmedo". O bien, cuando la empresa trabajó el condimento, lo guardaron en un lugar donde probablemente no haya cumplido las condiciones.

In other words, why did you write this article and what does it specifically have to do with merken?

Maybe because Merken is made from aji cachacabra ahumada mainly from the humid south?

And by the way, why would anyone eat merken in sufficient quantities for this to even be a concern?

I have to dump out probably 100 gms. of the good stuff gifted by my suegra because it has sat around for awhile.

True that occasional use will not be a problem for a healthy person but not like I already don't stress the organs as it is with all that abundant Chile wine, pisco and imported rum.

[susiedillon]

OK, so how do I track doŵn a little old Mapuche lady up this-a-way .... Curicó region? Don't think too many venture this far north.

The Washington brand was very spicy and very tasty - a good combination but I can't be sure from whence it hails. And it is simply not worth taking a chance. We had a dog that almost died from a similar toxin that was in the dog kibble. She was young and recovered. We are not and may not!!!!

[susiedillon]

OK, so how do I track doŵn a little old Mapuche lady up this-a-way .... Curicó region? Don't think too many venture this far north.

The Washington brand was very spicy and very tasty - a good combination but I can't be sure from whence it hails. And it is simply not worth taking a chance. We had a dog that almost died from a similar toxin that was in the dog kibble. She was young and recovered. We are not and may not!!!!

[susiedillon]

Sorry, double post - slow internet connection. Thanks, Entel!

[frozen-north]

Not just merken:

Ochratoxins are fungal secondary metabolites that contaminate grains, legumes, coffee, dried fruits, beer and wine, and meats

http://aem.asm.org/content/68/5/2326.full

Whisky and vodka seem to be safe.

[admin]

yea, as I was cooking dinner last night and I opened up the spice drawer. I realized just about every single spice in the drawer was susceptible to the same problem. So, Merken, specifically, is not the problem.

I guess how dry your spices are is the real issue. Not sure how it works with spices specifically, but mold needs a certain humidity level to form.

Other than that, I have far bigger things to worry about, with far higher probabilities of killing me. I am pretty sure no one in the world keeps a statistic on number of deaths from bad Merken, or even just spices overall.

[eeuunikkeiexpat]

As someone who has lived on the humid coast for 10 years, I have an appreciation of the extent of the problem.

These days, I am always careful to never use wet hands to retrieve stuff from drawers, cabinets, etc, or to put something back that is not completely dry.

For the spice and food storage areas, make them in the driest, coolest areas of the kitchen. One indicator something is not right is the presence of flour mites, they are hard to see if your eyesight is poor but an infestation is evidence that mold is growing somewhere and humidity is high in your food or spice stash.

To keep enclosed areas free of mites and mold, I have been experimenting with decent results with this product form the States:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/DampRid-10-5 ... /100392067

[Donnybrook]

To keep enclosed areas free of mites and mold, I have been experimenting with decent results with this product form the States:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/DampRid-10-5 ... /100392067

They sell a similar thing in Jumbo here called Bolaseca. Ahem. In Lima damp was a huge problem and shoes were especially susceptible. They often turned green with mould. You could buy long electric bars to place in the bottom of closets. I have often wondered why someone did not import them to Chile.
http://articulo.mercadolibre.com.pe/MPE ... uminio-_JM