Why do they say that mayonnaise cannot be heated?

Many people have heard that mayonnaise should not be heated. And there are 2 reasons for this - separation of the sauce under the influence of high temperatures and the release of substances harmful to health. Hot dishes prepared with mayonnaise cause damage to the stomach and liver. This is a cold sauce, and it is correct to use it for dressing - and nothing else.

Why not?

First of all, it’s worth explaining that mayonnaise is different from mayonnaise.

Homemade sauce is radically different from industrial sauce. At home, housewives have the goal of emulsifying raw egg yolks, olive oil, lemon juice and mustard. The mass should have a homogeneous, elastic, creamy consistency. If you prepare mayonnaise correctly, it has a very delicate taste. The downside is that when heated to 65 degrees and above, the substance disintegrates and turns into vegetable oil interspersed with other products.

Industrial mayonnaise cannot be heated for completely different reasons. Any emulsion in itself is unstable. It oxidizes easily and breaks down into its components. Therefore, manufacturers add a large amount of stabilizers to mayonnaise. And also, in order to save money and be able to sell the product at an affordable price, instead of fresh eggs, substitutes or individual components are added to the sauce (in the best case, egg yolk powder). Store-bought mayonnaise is a set of food additives, powders, emulsifiers, stabilizers, and preservatives.All these elements react with each other when heated. Substances harmful to health are released.

Mayonnaise is a cold sauce that is not intended for heating or cooking hot dishes.

Negative consequences

Harm from mayonnaise when heated is possible only if it is industrial and made from surrogates. It's quite easy to check. You need to heat a small amount of sauce in a frying pan. If you use natural ingredients, it will very soon turn into vegetable oil with white specks - you can even fry something with it. And if the composition is not natural, then when heated you will be able to observe a milky-white gurgling mass, which will soon begin to burn.

What is so harmful in industrial mayonnaise, and why is it dangerous to health when heated?

• Can cause allergies and poisoning. The preservative sodium benzoate contained in mayonnaise breaks down into benzophenone and dimethyl carbonate when heated. The first substance is the strongest allergen. Dimethyl carbonate in an acidic environment (and mayonnaise is sour) under the influence of high temperatures releases methanol, which transforms into the poison formaldehyde.
• Increases the risk of developing cancer. The flavor enhancer monosodium glutamate, mustard and many “Es”, when heated to 90 degrees and above, form carcinogens that cause bladder and brain cancer.
• Puts stress on the stomach and liver. Mayonnaise is a high-calorie sauce that increases appetite, but is difficult to digest. Usually dishes with its addition are consumed in excessive quantities, and afterward a person suffers from heaviness in the stomach.The liver is forced to work in an enhanced mode in order to remove all the harmful substances released during heating. And sooner or later the digestive organs may fail.

Additives in industrial mayonnaise are thermally unstable. Their very presence in the composition casts doubt on the benefits of the product. Even considering that, according to research results, they themselves are not dangerous to human health, many are wary of consuming store-bought sauce. Heated mayonnaise is doubly dangerous! And although no one has tested it for harm in this form (for the sole reason that it is consumed cold), there is no need to cook hot dishes with it. This is not accepted in a professional kitchen. There are many other ways to add a spicy flavor to dishes. You can add olive oil, yolks, lemon juice separately. Or replace mayonnaise with sour cream, yogurt, cream, or bechamel sauce.