Hijiki
Encyclopedia
is a brown sea vegetable growing wild on rocky coastlines around Japan
, Korea
, and China
. The written kanji forms of its two names, which are examples of ateji
, literally mean deer-tail grass and sheep-nest grass, respectively.
Hijiki is a traditional food and has been a part of a balanced diet in Japan for centuries. Hijiki is known to be rich in dietary fibre and essential minerals
such as calcium, iron and magnesium. According to Japanese folklore
, hijiki aids health and beauty, and thick, black, lustrous hair is connected to regular consumption of small amounts of hijiki. Hijiki has been sold in United Kingdom
natural products stores for 30 years and hijiki's culinary uses have been adopted in North America
. Recent studies have shown that hijiki contains potentially toxic
quantities of inorganic arsenic
, and food safety agencies of several countries (excluding Japan) have advised against its consumption.
.
Starting in the 1960s, the word "hijiki" started to be used widely in the United States, and the product (imported in dried form from Japan) became widely available at natural food stores and Asian-American grocery stores, due to the influence of the macrobiotic
movement, and in the 1970s with the growing number of Japanese restaurants.
Hijiki is normally eaten with other foods such as vegetables or fish. It may be added to foods that have been steamed, boiled, marinated in soy sauce
or fish sauce, cooked in oil, or added to soup. Hijiki seaweed may also be mixed in with rice for sushi
, but is not used as a wrap to prepare sushi.
and minerals, such as iron, calcium
, and magnesium
. Dietary fiber is good for the intestine and iron helps to prevent anemia
. Hijiki has a good calcium and magnesium balance. The ratio of calcium to magnesium in hijiki is 2 to 1.
were significantly higher than in other types of seaweed. These results have been independently verified.
Government food safety agencies that have issued warnings include:
The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan
has responded with a report pointing out that, while the consumption of more than 4.7 g hijiki seaweed per day could result in an intake of inorganic arsenic that exceeds the tolerable daily intake for this substance, the average daily consumption for Japanese people is estimated at 0.9 g. Several of the reports from other food safety agencies acknowledged that occasional Hijiki consumption was unlikely to cause significant health risks, but advised against all consumption regardless.
Although no known illnesses have been associated with consuming hijiki seaweed to date, inorganic arsenic has been identified as carcinogen
ic to humans, and exposure to high levels of inorganic arsenic has been linked with gastrointestinal effects, anemia
and liver damage. People who follow a macrobiotic diet
that often includes large amounts of seaweed may be at greater risk.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
, and China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. The written kanji forms of its two names, which are examples of ateji
Ateji
In modern Japanese, primarily refers to kanji used phonetically to represent native or borrowed words, without regard to the meaning of the underlying characters. This is analogous to man'yōgana in pre-modern Japanese...
, literally mean deer-tail grass and sheep-nest grass, respectively.
Hijiki is a traditional food and has been a part of a balanced diet in Japan for centuries. Hijiki is known to be rich in dietary fibre and essential minerals
Dietary mineral
Dietary minerals are the chemical elements required by living organisms, other than the four elements carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen present in common organic molecules. Examples of mineral elements include calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, zinc, and iodine...
such as calcium, iron and magnesium. According to Japanese folklore
Japanese folklore
The folklore of Japan is heavily influenced by both Shinto and Buddhism, the two primary religions in the country. It often involves humorous or bizarre characters and situations and also includes an assortment of supernatural beings, such as bodhisattva, kami , yōkai , yūrei ,...
, hijiki aids health and beauty, and thick, black, lustrous hair is connected to regular consumption of small amounts of hijiki. Hijiki has been sold in United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
natural products stores for 30 years and hijiki's culinary uses have been adopted in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. Recent studies have shown that hijiki contains potentially toxic
Toxin
A toxin is a poisonous substance produced within living cells or organisms; man-made substances created by artificial processes are thus excluded...
quantities of inorganic arsenic
Arsenic
Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As, atomic number 33 and relative atomic mass 74.92. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in conjunction with sulfur and metals, and also as a pure elemental crystal. It was first documented by Albertus Magnus in 1250.Arsenic is a metalloid...
, and food safety agencies of several countries (excluding Japan) have advised against its consumption.
History in the West
In 1867 the word "hijiki" first appeared in an English-language publication - "A Japanese and English Dictionary," by James C. HepburnJames Curtis Hepburn
James Curtis Hepburn, M.D., LL.D. was a physician who became a Christian missionary. He is known for the Hepburn romanization system for transliteration of the Japanese language into the Latin alphabet, which he popularized in his Japanese–English dictionary.- Biography :Hepburn was born in...
.
Starting in the 1960s, the word "hijiki" started to be used widely in the United States, and the product (imported in dried form from Japan) became widely available at natural food stores and Asian-American grocery stores, due to the influence of the macrobiotic
Macrobiotic diet
A macrobiotic diet , from "macro" and "bios" , a dietary regimen which involves eating grains as a staple food supplemented with other foodstuffs such as local vegetables avoiding the use of highly processed or refined foods and most animal products...
movement, and in the 1970s with the growing number of Japanese restaurants.
Appearance and preparation
Hijiki is green to brown in colour when found in the wild. A fisherman and a professional diver harvest the hijiki with a sickle at the time of the low tide of the spring tide of May from March. After collection, the seaweed is boiled and dried to be sold in the form of dried hijiki. Dried processed hijiki turns black. To prepare dried hijiki for cooking, it is first soaked in water then cooked with ingredients like soy sauce and sugar to make a dish.Hijiki is normally eaten with other foods such as vegetables or fish. It may be added to foods that have been steamed, boiled, marinated in soy sauce
Soy sauce
Soy sauce is a condiment produced by fermenting soybeans with Aspergillus oryzae or Aspergillus sojae molds, along with water and salt...
or fish sauce, cooked in oil, or added to soup. Hijiki seaweed may also be mixed in with rice for sushi
Sushi
is a Japanese food consisting of cooked vinegared rice combined with other ingredients . Neta and forms of sushi presentation vary, but the ingredient which all sushi have in common is shari...
, but is not used as a wrap to prepare sushi.
Nutrition
Hijiki contains dietary fiberDietary fiber
Dietary fiber, dietary fibre, or sometimes roughage is the indigestible portion of plant foods having two main components:* soluble fiber that is readily fermented in the colon into gases and physiologically active byproducts, and* insoluble fiber that is metabolically inert, absorbing water as it...
and minerals, such as iron, calcium
Calcium
Calcium is the chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. It has an atomic mass of 40.078 amu. Calcium is a soft gray alkaline earth metal, and is the fifth-most-abundant element by mass in the Earth's crust...
, and magnesium
Magnesium
Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg, atomic number 12, and common oxidation number +2. It is an alkaline earth metal and the eighth most abundant element in the Earth's crust and ninth in the known universe as a whole...
. Dietary fiber is good for the intestine and iron helps to prevent anemia
Anemia
Anemia is a decrease in number of red blood cells or less than the normal quantity of hemoglobin in the blood. However, it can include decreased oxygen-binding ability of each hemoglobin molecule due to deformity or lack in numerical development as in some other types of hemoglobin...
. Hijiki has a good calcium and magnesium balance. The ratio of calcium to magnesium in hijiki is 2 to 1.
Possible arsenic health risk
Several government food safety agencies advise consumers to avoid consumption of hijiki seaweed. Test results have indicated that levels of inorganic arsenicArsenic
Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As, atomic number 33 and relative atomic mass 74.92. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in conjunction with sulfur and metals, and also as a pure elemental crystal. It was first documented by Albertus Magnus in 1250.Arsenic is a metalloid...
were significantly higher than in other types of seaweed. These results have been independently verified.
Government food safety agencies that have issued warnings include:
- the Canadian Food Inspection AgencyCanadian Food Inspection AgencyThe Canadian Food Inspection Agency is a science based regulatory agency that is dedicated to the safeguarding of food, animals, and plants, which enhance the health and well-being of Canada's people, environment and economy...
(CFIA) - the Food and Environmental Hygiene DepartmentFood and Environmental Hygiene DepartmentFood and Environmental Hygiene Department , or FEHD for short, is a department of Hong Kong Government, reporting to the Health, Welfare and Food Bureau. It is The department is responsible for food hygiene and environmental hygiene...
(FEHD) of Hong Kong - the Food Standards AgencyFood Standards AgencyThe Food Standards Agency is a non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for protecting public health in relation to food throughout the United Kingdom and is led by a board appointed to act in the public interest...
(FSA) of the United Kingdom - the New Zealand Food Safety AuthorityNew Zealand Food Safety AuthorityThe New Zealand Food Safety Authority , or Te Pou Oranga Kai O Aotearoa is the New Zealand government body responsible for food safety...
(NZFSA)
The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (Japan)
The ' is a cabinet level ministry of the Japanese government. It is commonly known as Kōrō-shō in Japan. This ministry provides regulations on maximum residue limits for agricultural chemicals in foods, basic food and drug regulations, standards for foods, food additives, etc.It was formed with...
has responded with a report pointing out that, while the consumption of more than 4.7 g hijiki seaweed per day could result in an intake of inorganic arsenic that exceeds the tolerable daily intake for this substance, the average daily consumption for Japanese people is estimated at 0.9 g. Several of the reports from other food safety agencies acknowledged that occasional Hijiki consumption was unlikely to cause significant health risks, but advised against all consumption regardless.
Although no known illnesses have been associated with consuming hijiki seaweed to date, inorganic arsenic has been identified as carcinogen
Carcinogen
A carcinogen is any substance, radionuclide, or radiation that is an agent directly involved in causing cancer. This may be due to the ability to damage the genome or to the disruption of cellular metabolic processes...
ic to humans, and exposure to high levels of inorganic arsenic has been linked with gastrointestinal effects, anemia
Anemia
Anemia is a decrease in number of red blood cells or less than the normal quantity of hemoglobin in the blood. However, it can include decreased oxygen-binding ability of each hemoglobin molecule due to deformity or lack in numerical development as in some other types of hemoglobin...
and liver damage. People who follow a macrobiotic diet
Macrobiotic diet
A macrobiotic diet , from "macro" and "bios" , a dietary regimen which involves eating grains as a staple food supplemented with other foodstuffs such as local vegetables avoiding the use of highly processed or refined foods and most animal products...
that often includes large amounts of seaweed may be at greater risk.
External links
- Canadian Food Inspection Agency — Factsheet
- Food and Environmental Hygiene Department of Hong Kong — Hijiki and Arsenic
- Food Standards Agency of the United Kingdom — Hijiki: your questions answered
- New Zealand Food Safety Authority — Hijiki media release
- Seaweeds Used as Human Food