There are reports of many people (especially food vendors) using paracetamol to cook meat. Their reason for this is to quickly tenderize the meat and avoid long boiling times.

However, putting paracetamol into food has very serious health implications. When the drug is used for cooking, it is hydrolyzed (broken down) into 4-aminophenol, which is highly toxic to the kidney. Also, high consumption of analgesics over many years is a well-known cause of kidney damage.

Paracetamol poisoning usually causes liver failure which may also be accompanied by acute renal failure. High doses of aspirin or paracetamol can cause acute renal failure. Therefore (for health reasons), use of paracetamol for tenderizing meat must be highly discouraged.

Toughness of meat comes from the collagen (the connective tissues). During cooking it slowly breaks down into a substance called gelatin, and the meat becomes soft.

Without using paracetamol, you can tenderize meat by:
1. Cooking with a pressure cooker.
2. Brining (salting). This involves soaking the meat in a highly concentrated salt-water solution, typically for about 20 hours, before cooking.
3. Slicing the meat. This helps to sever muscle fibres and thereby hastens softening while cooking.
4. Pounding meat (e.g. with a mallet) before cooking.
5. Marinating (soaking) with acid in the form of vinegar, citrus juices or wine before cooking.
6. Marinating with enzymes. Pineapple, kiwi, ginger, Asian pear and pawpaw contain enzymes that can help tenderize meat.
7. Velveting the meat. This involves coating/soaking pieces of meat in a mixture of cornstarch, rice wine, salt, sugar, egg whites, and sometimes soy sauce, for about 30-45 minutes before cooking.
8. Slow-cooking the meat.
9. Using commercial meat tenderizers, which are sold in powder or liquid form. They should only be used sparingly, to avoid the meat becoming unpleasantly soft.

If you know anybody that uses paracetamol for softening meat, please advise them to desist forthwith!

This is an original article, published here for the first time.

I'm hearing of that for the first time. I know they use potash to quickly soften the meat but I've never heard of paracetamol. That's all shades of wrong. We like taking too many shortcuts in this country

Mad ooooo

They won't kill us in this country.

There is nothing wey musa no go see for gate

Really This may also contribute to the large number of organ failure been reported currently. Na wa for restaurant people; you just have to be poisoning people Sha!

Dem use paracetamol boil meat and use sugar cook beans ati yam.

Guys go come smoke weed after eating

I command you to like this comment.

Are you serious

How do you even feel breaking tablets of medicine into your food..

Even if they dont educate you, does it look normal..

Nothing musa no go see

What is this one i'm hearing again o?

Naija for show

I don't know what somebody will not hear in this life.

Nigerians and shortcut, na wa for us o. More and more people would come down with kidney problems. On a good day we pop pcm like sweets , now add this one join. Paracetamol shouldn't normally exceed 8 tablets a day else the risk of kidney damage increases.

dominique:
I'm hearing of that for the first time. I know they use potash to quickly soften the meat but I've never heard of paracetamol. That's all shades of wrong

Potash is equally harmful.
Raises the level of potassium in the blood which could damage the kidneys and also cause a heart condition called cardiomyopathy

Hmmmm... Nkan nbe

T

Sad and not just only Nigeria as it is also an issue in some other African countries where some use it to hasten the cooking of beans and maize.

people are wicked saa

Wetin Hassan no go hear for Gusau

Thank God I have left Nigeria and returned back to my village. No be only paracetamol, na to use Andrews liver salt too. Ndi iberibe.

I don't believe this story, please op you can do better.

I think pommo is the type of meat they mean.

So many Bad things happening

Nothing one will not see or hear.
Me I have made up my mind that come 2020 if God keeps me alive, I will not eat outside or in any eatery or restaurant again, thank God am getting married soon. With the way I have eating outside this year 2019, am sure I have had a lot of storage things in my belly. Imagine I have not made food by myself for over 8-9 months now

Up

Let me book space

We are finished

All for the money. With no regard to life. This is totally unacceptable. In all we do, let us avoid the tendency to rake in as much as possible at the expense of others. The Golden Rule "Whatever you want men to do to you, do the same to them".

Na wa o