With exquisite shapes and fashionable pictures, even the design of packaging boxes and paper for fast food and takeout is becoming more and more exquisite and fancy. But these beautiful packages not only harm the environment, but also may cause serious health problems.
The latest research in the United States shows that plasticizers in fast food packaging boxes can seriously interfere with the human endocrine, may damage the health of the reproductive system and lead to infertility, and may also increase the risk of autism or asthma. Life times interviews authoritative experts to uncover the true features of the “packaging killer” lurking around you.
interviewed expert: Fan Zhihong, associate professor, School of food science and nutrition engineering, China Agricultural University
reproductive health suffers first
The experiment conducted by Milken Institute of public health in the United States is the first study to analyze the relationship between fast food consumption and phthalate exposure. “Phthalates are associated with many serious health problems,” said Dr. Amy Jota, the first author and assistant professor of the study Phthalate is a plasticizer, mainly used in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) materials, which can make hard plastics soft and elastic.
In daily life, it is found in hundreds of plastic products such as toys, food packaging materials, medical blood bags and rubber tubes, detergents, personal care products and so on. During the processing, heating, packaging and packaging of many foods, phthalates will dissolve into the food.
Research by the US environmental protection department found that phthalates can cause liver cancer; It can also interfere with human endocrine, and long-term exposure will affect reproductive health. Grain and meat are the most important contributors to the dissolution of phthalates, and it is more risky to pack rice, noodles or meat in fast food boxes.
In the fast-paced modern life, fast food and takeout are increasingly popular. According to the special research report on China’s Internet catering takeout market 2015, the transaction scale of China’s Internet catering takeout market in 2014 has exceeded 15 billion yuan, and the order size has reached 370 million orders. When people can enjoy convenient and delicious food without going out of the house and opening fire, it is likely that phthalates were swallowed in the lunch box.
five kinds of packaging hide fatal hazards
Packaging is the “coat” of food. Once there is a problem, food safety will also be threatened. It can be said that food packaging is as important as food quality.
Research shows that more than 4000 chemicals have been found in food packaging materials. If food packaging is used improperly or is fake and shoddy, its health hazards are also fatal.
1 disposable tableware
Data show that China consumes about 15 billion disposable lunch boxes every year, and half of them are unqualified.
In order to withstand high temperature, a layer of coated paper will be used in disposable tableware to make paper plastic tableware. According to the standard, this layer of plastic film should be standard polyethylene, but some manufacturers will use industrial polyethylene or waste plastics for their interests, which will bring huge health hazards to people.
2 PVC cling film
A large amount of plasticizer will be added in the production process of PVC cling film. Therefore, it is listed as a restricted category by the state, which stipulates that meat, cooked food and fat food cannot be packaged directly. However, it is common to wrap food in supermarkets.
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