The safety of food packaging products can not be ignored

Recently, phthalate ester incidents in the “clouding agent” in Taiwan have resulted in the contamination of five types of foods such as sports drinks, fruit juices, tea drinks, jam pulp, and gelatin starches in Taiwan. Measures such as sealing, investigations, recalls and other measures have been taken for imported foods produced in Taiwan. The AQSIQ also issued a notice suspending imports of products and food additives produced by problematic product manufacturers in Taiwan. The Ministry of Health also issued a (sixth batch) notice to include phthalates in the black list of non-edible substances that may be used for food.

In China, phthalates are plasticizers commonly used in plastic materials and are widely used as plasticizers for polyvinyl chloride, especially in the sealants with food contact materials. Dicarboxylic acid esters. These chemicals, like bisphenol A that is banned in milk bottles, are environmental hormones that can interfere with the body's endocrine and reproductive systems when they enter the body and are suspected of being associated with precocious puberty in children. Phthalic acid esters in foods generally come from two sources: On the one hand, phthalates in food packaging containers and materials dissolve out of plastics and migrate to foods; on the other hand, such substances diffuse. In the environment, it in turn pollutes the environment. At present, China has not made provisions for plasticizer testing in the national standards for food contact materials, GB14944-94 "Plastic Cap Caps and Pellets for Food Packaging" and GB4805-94 "Food Can Rings The Hygienic Standards for Oxy-Phenolic Coatings did not limit the plasticizer project.

Food packaging containers and materials are important export commodities in Ningbo. According to the inspection and quarantine department statistics, in 2010 Ningbo exported a total of 19,400 batches of food packaging containers with a value of 318 million US dollars. Taking the Zhangzhou Inspection and Quarantine Bureau as an example, in the first half of 2011, phthalate esters were detected excessively when monitoring phthalate esters on the surface of a batch of canned food can lids. The data shows that phthalate ester pollutants will have a greater migration in oils and fats, such as instant noodles, sauces and edible oils.

In response to the above problems, the inspection and quarantine department recommends that: First, relevant government departments should strengthen the monitoring of the content of plasticizers in domestic foods, and carry out the risk assessment of exposure to the environment. Second, relevant government departments should step up efforts to update and improve relevant technical standards concerning food packaging containers in China. At present, China's technical standard system involving food packaging containers is not perfect, and many standards lag behind, with only 30 of more than 80 standards. It was formulated after 2000 and the restrictions on plasticizers are left blank. Third, the relevant government departments should establish an effective risk warning and feedback mechanism for enterprises to provide timely understanding of relevant technical information providing platform. Fourth, production enterprises must strengthen self-discipline and self-inspection to ensure food safety and protect consumers' health. Fifth, consumers should further raise awareness of food safety risks, and they should minimize the purchase of oils and fats stored in food packaging containers containing sealants.