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In an acidic (lemon-containing) sauce I had placed a metallic spoon. A few days later it had a metallic taste.

Stainless steal might be a significant source of nickel, chromium and iron [1]. Also, using aluminum utensils and packaging when cooking or storing food can contribute to the daily aluminum intake [2].

I want to avoid storing food in metallic containers which could increase my intake of metals.

The pH of some foods can be found here, but in some cases it's not of much use (when the food is a varying mixture of ingredients).

Is there an easy way to determine the pH of food? (whether the food is colored like a tomato sauce or transparent)

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  • $\begingroup$ Well, foods with acidic pH would be acidic to the taste. $\endgroup$
    – Ivan Neretin
    Apr 11, 2016 at 10:00
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    $\begingroup$ Why not to use indicator paper? kruuse.com/en/ecom/Forbrugsartikler/Forbrug_lab/… $\endgroup$
    – Jaroslav Kotowski
    Apr 11, 2016 at 12:48
  • $\begingroup$ @JaroslavKotowski Because many foods are already colored. I imagine it would be hard to distinguish color changes caused by pH from changes caused by food color. $\endgroup$
    – user
    Apr 11, 2016 at 12:52
  • $\begingroup$ @IvanNeretin I don't think our tongue is that accurate. As an example honey has 3.70 - 4.20 which to me is quite unexpected. $\endgroup$
    – user
    Apr 11, 2016 at 12:53
  • $\begingroup$ mix food, add a bit water, filter a few milliliters and measure pH od the permeate $\endgroup$
    – Jaroslav Kotowski
    Apr 11, 2016 at 13:10

2 Answers 2

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You can try wetting the tip of an ordinary pH paper, then put it into a sample of your food with that wet side. The capillary forces will suck up the liquid of your food and you should see a colour change in the formerly wetted area and above.

PH paper is not a very reliable method, but it should give you a general idea and it is easily performed at home.

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I would suggest to use indicator paper. If you are worried that food coloration will make color determination impossible, you can analyze only sample.

you can take a sample of the food and mix it in a blender. Add a bit of water and filter the mixed sample using filter paper or activated carbon. Then analyze the permeate using indicator paper.

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