How to choose chopsticks? How to maintain chopsticks?

Chopsticks are indispensable in our life. People in China like to eat with chopsticks. Chopsticks are made of various materials, such as wood, bamboo and iron. But you know how to choose good chopsticks. Although some chopsticks are made of wood, there is paint on the surface, and the paint on them will fall off after long-term use, which is harmful to human body. How to choose them well?

1 How to choose chopsticks

Chopsticks made of natural materials such as bamboo chopsticks and wooden chopsticks are non-toxic and environmentally friendly, and are the most practical. Avoid using brightly colored painted chopsticks, because painted chopsticks contain heavy metal lead and organic solvent benzene, which is carcinogenic.

2. How to maintain chopsticks

Newly bought chopsticks should be washed with tap water first, then with detergent, and finally boiled in boiling water for half an hour for disinfection. Bamboo chopsticks should be carefully scraped off the fine spines. If there is an odor, soak it in vinegar for half an hour or cook it in tea for half an hour. Ordinary chopsticks will become darker after 3~6 months of use. One of the important factors of discoloration is the long-term accumulation of bacteria. So it's best to change chopsticks once every six months. It is also suggested that chopsticks in the family should be used by special personnel to avoid the spread of bacteria among family members.

3. How to clean chopsticks

When washing chopsticks at home, many people rub them under tap water and then put them directly into the chopsticks tube. In fact, this kind of friction will leave scars on chopsticks, making the surface of chopsticks rough, even cracked and deformed, which is easy to hide evil people and become a hotbed of harmful bacteria such as Escherichia coli and Helicobacter pylori.

The correct way is to clean the surface of chopsticks first, then rub it gently with detergent, then rinse it with clear water, drain the water stains (an important step), and then put it into the chopsticks tube. When placed, the safest method is that the smaller end of chopsticks is facing up, which is beneficial to water evaporation and is not easy to get moldy. In addition, the chopsticks tube should be placed in a cool and ventilated place, and it is best to clean and disinfect it once a week.

4. How to train children to hold chopsticks?

The earliest children began to want to take chopsticks at the age of one and a half. But because it was too dangerous and not tight, his parents asked him to use more spoons for safety. In fact, sometimes try to show him chopsticks, and he will begin to practice using them himself. If you have time, you might as well make some pasta. Eating pasta is a good opportunity for children to practice using chopsticks. Since the child is almost two years old, we might as well prepare a set of tableware containing spoons, forks and chopsticks for him, so that he can practice eating with the tableware he wants at any time in peacetime.

At the beginning, it doesn't matter which way the child uses which tableware. But from the age of two, every time when eating, parents should pay attention to let him take the tableware in the right way. If you change hands or grab chopsticks in the middle of a meal, you don't need to remind him. As long as he is taught the correct grip repeatedly every day and slowly remembers it, he can hold it well.

Many parents often buy plastic chopsticks sold in the general market when preparing chopsticks for their children, but for children who have just started to practice using chopsticks, this type of chopsticks is too slippery to hold vegetables easily. You'd better buy a thin, short and easy-to-use bamboo chopstick.