Recently, there have been many claims online that "red dates supplement blood and shrimp skin supplement calcium, but if consumed at the same time, it will produce toxins like arsenic." This has led many netizens to occasionally ask for help, such as "Will you be poisoned after eating five or six red dates with shrimp skin?". So, can eating red dates and seafood together really lead to poisoning? Gu Chuanling, a director of the Capital Health and Nutrition Food Association and a registered nutritionist in China, said in an interview with China Consumer News that rumors such as red dates and shrimp skin cannot be eaten together are actually a "replica" of the clash between seafood and fruits. The analysis of toxicity issues needs to be based on "quantity", and whether a few red dates and a handful of shrimp skin are eaten simultaneously or sequentially, they will not be poisoned. Gu Chuanling's analysis pointed out that the so-called "scientific basis" of rumors is nothing more than "the vitamin C contained in red dates can chemically react with arsenic in seafood to produce arsenic.". However, in fact, the vast majority of organic arsenic in seafood such as shrimp skin is stable, and trace amounts of inorganic arsenic are quickly metabolized in the body. Therefore, they do not react with the vitamin C contained in fruits such as red dates to produce arsenic trioxide (arsenic), leading to food toxicity. To take a step back, even if arsenic in seafood such as red dates and shrimp skins can react, there is still a question of the dosage. Taking sea shrimp as an example, according to Chinese standards, the content of inorganic arsenic in each kilogram of fresh shrimp does not exceed 0.5 milligrams. Even if the content of inorganic arsenic exceeds twice the limit, which is 1 milligram per kilogram, it is still necessary to eat more than 10 kilograms of shrimp at once and consume a large amount of vitamin C in order to have the possibility of acute poisoning. From the perspectives of nutrition and food safety, the argument that food is mutually exclusive is untenable. The Chinese Nutrition Association has conducted some rigorous food cross validation experiments, with volunteers conducting a one week validation experiment on more than 500 types of food with cross contamination. The results showed that everything was normal and there were no adverse reactions. So, why do people sometimes feel uncomfortable when they eat two types of "complementary foods" at the same time? Gu Chuanling believes that the problem may lie in two aspects. The first possibility is that the food itself is not clean, especially in the summer when the temperature and humidity are high. Bacteria multiply quickly, making it a high incidence period for foodborne diseases; The second possibility is that there may be physical problems, such as allergies to certain foods or gastrointestinal diseases. After consuming related foods, it may cause discomfort in the body, mistakenly believing that two foods are in conflict. (Reporter Li Jian) (Liao Xinshe)