Lick the lid of the yoghurt – sure, most of us have done that before. After opening a yoghurt pot, you lick off the remains sticking to the lid with your tongue. But how harmful is it to the body if you lick the aluminum lid?
Licking the lid of the yoghurt: Aluminum as a danger to the body?
If you take in too much aluminum in your body, it can have serious consequences. According to the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), a long-term overdose has a negative effect on the nervous system, kidneys and bones. It can also affect your child’s fertility and development. However, whether the light metal also causes dementia or breast cancer has not yet been scientifically proven.
One thing is certain: once the light metal settles on the skeleton, it is difficult to break it down again. Particular caution applies here, especially in people with kidney failure or other diseases of the organ. Normally, absorbed aluminum is excreted from the body through the kidneys – but this route usually only works to a limited extent in kidney patients. It is all the more important for them to avoid taking too much aluminum.
You should not exceed this aluminum limit
But how much aluminum is too much for your body? When is it really a health hazard? A limit value set by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) provides orientation here. This states that you should consume a maximum of 1 milligram of aluminum per kilogram of your body weight every week
It is important to note that aluminum can get into our bodies in a variety of ways. On the one hand, it occurs in foods such as chocolate, raw vegetable salad or tea. On the other hand, many medicines and cosmetics also contain the light metal. However, it is much more obvious as a component of packaging containing aluminium
Lick the lid of the yoghurt or scrape it off with a spoon?
The good news first: If you lick aluminum-containing yoghurt lids with your tongue, there is no acute health risk. Because the aluminum values here are so low that they do not exceed the limit values. In addition, the lids are covered with a thin layer of plastic so that the light metal should not get into the product unnoticed. This makes licking harmless at first.
However, if you scratch the special protective layer of the yoghurt lid with a spoon, it can break. This will do that
If you want to keep leftovers of your yoghurt for a few days, licking the yoghurt lid is not recommended. Because your saliva can make it easier to get a
Caution aluminum: You have to be careful here
Even if the pure aluminum values are initially harmless – there is a completely different danger when licking the yoghurt lid. The sharp edges of the lid can seriously injure your tongue if you cut yourself on them. You should always be careful here.
Aluminum yoghurt lids and other packaging protect very well against the escape of the light metal thanks to their special plastic coating. However, critical situations can arise with conventional aluminum foil if food containing salt or acid is stored in it for a long period of time. Because salt and acids can leach the aluminum out of the packaging film, so that it gets into the food stored inside unnoticed.
