Dong Jinshi, the secretary general of The International Food Packaging Association, disclosed to local media that over 50% of the disposable plastic lunch boxes used in China fail to meet the national standards.
According to China Youth Daily, Dong has taken the Lao Bian Dumpling Restaurant and Donglaishun Hotpot to court after the toxic chemicals n-hexane and caproic acid were identified in the disposable food boxes which the two restaurants used to package food for him.
The report says that although the two restaurants used disposable boxes from different manufacturers, the test results are remarkably similar. The n-hexane vapor residues in them exceeded the national standard by more than 20 times while the caproic acid vapor residue in them is almost 150 times higher than that of the national standard level. This means that about one third of each plastic box will be ingested with the food if it is cooked with oil and vinegar.
Dong disclosed that besides one-time fast food packages, paper cups, plastic glasses, and mineral water bottles can all be bad for the health. Food package experts and environmentalists say that while people are concerned with food itself, they seldom pay attention to the food packaging, and it is little known that bad food packaging may be as dangerous as drug abuse.
Dong said that to solve the problem and promote the healthy development of the food packaging industry, the legal structure needs to be improved and the existing executive structure should also be reinforced. Dong added this also involves joint action by the health authorities, the quality authorities, and the industrial and commercial authorities.
