Comments on: Reheating spinach

By: Mark

Mark — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:59:59 +0000

I just at two bowls of reheated spinach soup that was stored at about 10C for 4 days after cooking…. so far so good….

By: Mark

Mark — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:59:59 +0000

I don’t mean to spoil the fun, but I thought I would add a little peer-reviewed science to the discussion:

J. Agric. Food Chem., 1974, 22 (6), pp 1029–1032, Edward G. Heisler, James. Siciliano, Samuel. Krulick, Jules. Feinberg, Joseph H. Schwartz

“Conditions favoring formation of nitrosamines – simultaneous presence of nitrite and secondary amines at acid pH – can occur during abusive storage of comminuted spinach or beets. Shredded spinach, shredded or ground fresh beets, or beet juice rapidly produced nitrite. … Whole fresh and all forms of processed spinach and beets accumulated little nitrite even though containing 1500-2000 ppm of nitrate originally. Selections from these tests, cooked and uncooked, and thawed, frozen, and thawed spinach were analyzed by a glc-mass spectral method for six nitrosamines (methyl-, ehtyl-, and methylethylnitrosamine, nitrosopyrorolidine, nitrosomorpholine, and nitrosopiperidine). Results were negative, indicating no detectable formtion of these six nitrosamines when fresh or processed spinach or beets are stored even beyond the point of edibility.”

Translation: as with any food,improperly reheated or stored spinach might give you food poisoning, but it does not contain nitrosoamines (i.e. there is no evidence that it is carcinogenic).

By: FA5T808

FA5T808 — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:59:59 +0000

I have, in my lunchbox, leftover spinach that we did not refrigerate overnight. now i am perplexed as to whether to heat or eat cold or even dump in the thrash… i have reaheated spinach often in the past but now i dont feel good about it… thanks to you scare mongers…. ps my mother is German, wife Dutch.. what the ell… cold spinach it is.

By: WPS

WPS — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:59:59 +0000

I’m from the US, but have lived in various places in Europe for 15 years. Just learned about the no-reheating spinach thing from my German boyfriend the other day (no reasons given, as is typical with such maxims) and read through the postings on this site. About the only conclusion I can draw is that continental Europeans, with all of their “facts”, are much more susceptible to illness than much of the rest of the world.
Seriously, though: For those who get sick after reheating some spinach-based dish — try getting checked for food poisoning the next time it happens. I’m appalled at how often food here gets left out on the counter “to cool off” before it goes in the refrigerator or gets placed in a “cool place” for several days instead of being properly refrigerated. Such slow cooling/room temperature storage is perfect for breeding bacteria. Modern refrigerators, unlike ice boxes of old, are perfectly capable of cooling off food that is above room temp. (I admit, though, even I let it stop boiling first…)
Also, most people seem to miss that the nitrate/nitrite/nitrosamine issue, even if it is present in reheated spinach, is long-term, cancer-related, and not a bout of stomach upset and diarrhea. Your tales of being sick afterwards have nothing to do with the nitrite issue — that’s from bacteria, folks. Wash properly, cook properly, store properly, reheat properly. No problems, then.

By: Marianne

Marianne — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:59:59 +0000

I am from Austria and there too we say that you should never reheat spinach. I never found out why though, until today, when I started googling the subject. According to some German and Austrian websites this is what I found out: Spinach is very high in nitrates, which are NOT harmful. When reheated those nitrates can turn into nitrites, which ARE harmful. They can cause cancer. Only spinach that has been cooled down very quickly, such as by putting it into iced water, can be reheated. But generally they suggest not to reheat spinach. So there you go, those British chefs that were mentioned in the first comment seem to have been wrong after all.

By: nehuy spamit s icq

nehuy spamit s icq — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:59:59 +0000

nehuy spamit s icq…

Very usefull. Thanks! nehuy spamit s icq…

By: Sue

Sue — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:59:59 +0000

I mention to a friend a recipe that I like to cook (cheesy spinach pasta bake) and said that I reheat the leftovers the next day. She told me her mum used to tell her not to reheat spinach. So I decided to google it and got this forum. I’ve not had any after effects but think I’ll stop reheating spinach! By the way I’m English and my friend is Croatian.

By: Amy

Amy — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:59:59 +0000

Today, when I cooked a lot of spinach, my (Dutch) husband warned me about the dangers of reheating spinach. Well, I’m from Taiwan and I never heard of any dangers, so I went ahead and saved some to reheat and eat later. I guess my husband won’t eat with me…

By: rb

rb — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:59:59 +0000

What about using cooked spinach in baking? I cook spinach, then freeze it immediately in small batches. When I’m ready to bake muffins, I defrost the spinach at room temperature, puree it together with other ingredients (butternut, apples), and bake the muffins. I then freeze the muffins and defrost them at room temperature one at a time as I’m ready to eat them. Is this ok??

By: the boy that put his finger in the dyke

the boy that put his finger in the dyke — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:59:59 +0000

yes yes… bring it on… i AM dutch… sofff….
anyway.. what everyone so far seems to go past is that nitrisamines are CARCINOGENIC.

the result is that regular indulgance in reheated spinach (or other green leafy vegetables) is not gonna make you feel bad – ITS THE CANCER YOU GET FROM IT 10 YEARS LATER that might ruin your apetite

and bla bla bla – yeah i know dozens of 2 pack a day die-hard cigarette junkies who didn’t die before their memories started gettin fuzzy… this is not exactly proof that turning your lungues into an extra runway for London Heathrow is a healthy way forward now IS IT??

anyway… just packed my lunch for tomorrow – homemade chickpea and spinach curry… HELLLOOO microwave LOL