Can paracetamol or other painkillers be safely used to soften meat when cooking? No, that's not true: Using paracetamol to tenderize meat is deemed unsafe, as the application of heat renders it toxic, and there is no scientific evidence to support its use for meat tenderization. Furthermore, paracetamol misuse, especially when consumed daily, can pose serious risks such as kidney failure.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) published by account Som1187 (archived here) on May 28, 2023, on TikTok with the caption (translated from Thai into English by Lead Stories staff): "#porklegstew #newrecipe #55555555."
The woman in the video states, as translated by Lead Stories staff:
Cooking pork leg stew with paracetamol reduces the time needed to tenderize the meat.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Mon Jan 16 00:14:04 2024 UTC)
Many safe ingredients and natural methods (archived here) are available for tenderizing meat. These include techniques like marinating, tenderizing with baking soda, and brining with salt. Despite these well-established methods, a recent trend has emerged on Thai TikTok advocating the use of paracetamol when cooking meat, even though there is little to no scientific evidence supporting the effectiveness of paracetamol for meat tenderization. In addition, It is crucial to refrain from using painkillers for purposes other than their intended use, and to be aware of the potential health consequences associated with their misuse.
Acetaminophen (archived here), also known as APAP or paracetamol, is a widely recognized pain reliever used for mild to moderate pain and fever. Paracetamol is an analgesic (archived here). Analgesics are drugs designed to alleviate pain (archived here), functioning by either diminishing inflammation or altering the processing and perception of pain in the brain. The most prevalent consequence of paracetamol misuse or overdose is acute liver toxicity, also known as paracetamol toxicity (archived here).
A Google search (archived here) with the phrase "Does paracetamol tenderize meat" did not yield any relevant results, only warnings against using it when cooking. On February 25, 2020, a Premium Times news article titled "Health experts warn against the use of paracetamol in cooking" (archived here) reported the concerns voiced by Nigerian experts from the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) regarding the risks associated with the misuse of paracetamol in culinary practices.
A recent scientific study published on PMC (PubMed Central), delved into the toxicological consequences of heating acetaminophen (archived here). Regardless of the method used, the heating process induces hydrolysis, converting acetaminophen into a harmful compound known as 4-aminophenol. This process has the potential to cause serious effects, including kidney failure and liver damage as social media users have also reported (see screenshot below).
(Source: X Screenshot taken on Tue Jan 23 12:07:52 2024 UTC)
The study additionally notes that, despite numerous web reports suggesting an uptick in the use of acetaminophen for meat tenderizing, there is a lack of scientific publications on this subject.
