Food Safety and Plastic Packaging

On the second anniversary of the implementation of the “Limiting Plastics Order”, “Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China” and the first anniversary of the implementation of GB9685-2008, the “Food Safety and Plastic Packaging” organized by Beijing Global Village was the theme community propaganda activity in Dongsi District, Dongcheng District. With the support of the office, the conference was successfully held. The event invited renowned environmental protection expert Prof. Dong Jinshi to explain the identification methods of various disposable articles for the residents of the community, and use experiments, jingles, etc. to let everyone master quickly. The following introduces the related knowledge and identification methods of various disposable articles.

1, disposable lunch box

Disposable lunch boxes are divided into plastic lunch boxes, paper lunch boxes, starch lunch boxes and plant straw meal boxes according to different materials. The standards they implement are not the same. Taking the most common disposable plastic lunch box as an example, as of December 1, 2009, the new national mandatory standard "General Technical Requirements for Plastic Disposable Tableware" (GB18006.1-2009) was formally implemented. It is also the first time for China to formulate national standards for disposable plastic tableware, ending the confusion that has never existed in the past for non-degradable disposable plastic tableware, and reducing the hassle for each company to establish corporate standards. Therefore, the production enterprises of disposable plastic lunch boxes not only need to obtain the QS production license, but also the product quality must meet the requirements of the standard in order to qualify as a qualified disposable plastic lunch box.

As a packaged disposable plastic lunch box, it is more common in restaurants. At present, the annual demand for disposable lunch boxes in China is about 15 billion, and more than 90% are plastic lunch boxes. Among them, the foam plastic lunch boxes that the country has ordered to phase out account for about half. In addition, the so-called environmentally-friendly non-foam plastic tableware, some manufacturers in order to reduce production costs, in the production often use waste plastics from unknown sources and add a lot of industrial grade calcium carbonate, talcum powder, paraffin and other toxic and hazardous raw and auxiliary materials. Even the products produced by individual companies with QS production licenses also have such quality problems, which brings certain difficulties to supervision. These poisonous and harmful raw materials will enter into foods with oils and other substances and will be absorbed by the body. They will cause various diseases such as indigestion, local pain, and liver dysfunction. Severe cases can lead to gallstones, heavy metal poisoning, or even cell canceration, seriously affecting consumption. Health.
Distinguishing the disposable lunch box can be done with a look, two touches and three smells. At first glance, we must first look at the QS logo and number on the lunch box; secondly, we must also look at whether the surface of the lunch box is clean and free of impurities or dark spots. In general, transparent plastic lunch boxes are produced using pure polypropylene (PP), and the safety factor is relatively high; bright colored lunch boxes may use waste plastics, so the darker the color, the less secure it is. The second touch is to touch the strength of the lunch box, using waste plastics or a large number of industrial grade calcium carbonate and talcum powder meal boxes, the strength is generally very poor. The three smells are to smell the odor of the lunch box. The characteristics of the inferior meal box are summed up as follows: four sentences are jingle: the hands are soft and soft, the light tear is broken, the pungent odor is smelled, and the heat leakage is easy to be deformed. There is a paraffin printing at one fold, and tearing into the water to sink. As long as the citizens remember the above four sentences, they can easily determine whether the disposable lunch box is qualified.

2, imitation porcelain tableware

CCTV “News 30” exposed the melamine tableware (scientific name melamine tableware) produced in Dongguan and other places. Due to excessive formaldehyde and potassium permanganate, it has a carcinogenic effect on the human body and caused widespread concern. The "culprit" that causes formaldehyde to exceed the standard is the industrial raw material commonly known as urea formaldehyde resin. The state prohibits the use of urea-formaldehyde resin instead of melamine resin to produce melamine tableware, because the tableware has poor resistance to heat and humidity, and the temperature is only about 80°C. Urea-formaldehyde resin will dissolve carcinogens with formaldehyde at higher temperatures. Long-term exposure to low-dose formaldehyde can cause many diseases, such as nasopharyngeal cancer, colon cancer, and menstrual disorders, which are more harmful to children and pregnant women.

When purchasing melamine tableware, first of all depends on whether the product is affixed with the QS logo, number, and company details. However, some products do not have the QS logo, and only the “stuck tray” is marked. Do not use it for food. At the same time try not to choose dark melamine cutlery to prevent it from being processed from recycled old plastic. If you have bought melamine tableware, you can do a simple safety test: cook in boiling water for 30 minutes, then remove it for 1 hour and repeat 3 times. If there is whitening, astringent, blistering, cracking, and irritating odor, it means there is something wrong with the quality of the cutlery. Qualified porcelain tableware can withstand low temperatures (can be placed in the refrigerator), resistant to boiling (boiling water steaming, boiling), pollution resistance, and high safety.

Regardless of the type of tableware you purchase, it is best to treat it before use. Soak it in vinegar for 2 hours or boil it in water for 5 minutes. Allow the dishes to soak until they cool naturally.

3, cling film

The “Plastic Self-Adhesive Film for Foods” standard implemented on September 1, 2010 will replace the standard for polyethylene self-adhesive cling film for 20 years. The scope of the new standard expands from self-adhesive cling film made of polyethylene to self-adhesive cling film made of other plastic materials, including polyethylene (PE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC). The plastic self-adhesive cling film for foods produced by a single-layer extrusion or multi-layer co-extrusion process.