Are There Toxic Substances When Reheating Spinach?

Can spinach be reheated without hesitation, or does it produce toxic substances? Does this also apply during pregnancy?

During growth, spinach accumulates nitrate, making it one of the nitrate-rich vegetables. Nitrate itself is harmless, but bacteria convert it into harmful nitrite in warm temperatures. Nitrite can impede the transport of oxygen in the body. While in the days when there were no refrigerators, one did have to worry about nitrite poisoning after heating up several times, today this concern is largely unfounded.

If you observe a few basic rules of kitchen hygiene, spinach can be reheated a maximum of once the next day:

• Leftover cooked spinach should be placed in clean containers, cooled quickly and then covered and stored in the refrigerator or frozen. Germs from the air can hardly penetrate.
• As a general rule, leftover food should not be left uncooled for hours or kept warm at lower temperatures. If a dish is to be served later or the next day, it should be chilled and then completely reheated. To do this, heat the food to at least 70 degrees and keep it at the high temperature for several minutes.

This also applies during pregnancy. Only infants and young children should not eat reheated spinach because they lack an enzyme that neutralizes the effects of possible small amounts of nitrite that adults can tolerate.