The material of the mooncake tray is difficult to identify. Photograph by our reporter Wang Zhenlong

Although there is still controversy about the safety of food packaging, a Beijing Youth Daily reporter recently found that many merchants are openly selling mooncake trays made of PVC on the Internet, and the sales are good.

A doctoral supervisor in the field of polymer chemistry and physics at a university in Beijing believes that products made of PVC should not be in direct contact with food, otherwise the additives in them may penetrate into the food.

Online stores selling PVC mooncake trays claim that "there is no impact on health"

As the Mid-Autumn Festival approaches and mooncakes begin to sell well, mooncake trays have also begun to sell well on the Internet. Many merchants specialize in selling mooncake trays made of PVC.

On Taobao, a Beijing Youth Daily reporter noticed that a merchant's sales record showed that a PVC mooncake tray priced at 13.5 yuan for 450 pieces had 382 successful transactions within 30 days.

The merchant introduced that his mooncake trays are shipped to all parts of China. Buyers who prefer this material generally see that it is cheap and easy to recycle.

"Ours is food-grade PVC, which has no effect on health." The merchant said that he has been selling mooncake trays made of PVC for more than ten years.

The ex-factory price of a PVC mooncake tray is 7.5 cents

Yesterday, a reporter from Beijing Youth Daily came to a manufacturer specializing in mooncake trays in Weishanzhuang, Daxing District as an order buyer.

Mr. Zhao, the head of the company's sales department, told the Beijing Youth Daily reporter that since the country has not advocated the use of PVC materials to make packaging that comes into direct contact with food in recent years, there are not many PVC mooncake trays in the factory, but if the customer specifies that PVC materials are needed, the manufacturer can also make them.

"Of course the cost is different." Mr. Zhao said that the price of different mooncake trays mainly differs in material and craftsmanship. One ton of PVC material is several thousand cheaper than PP and PET materials.

A mooncake tray with an upper outer diameter of 85 mm and a weight of about 135 grams, if made of PVC, will be sold for 7.5 cents each, while PET will be sold for at least 8 cents. "All mooncake trays are sold in quantities of 50,000," said Mr. Zhao.

In Mr. Zhao's opinion, he would not recommend PVC materials to his customers. He said that if you want to strictly control costs, you can start by reducing the thickness of other materials.

He said that many of his customers are time-honored merchants in the city and are very formal. Because the country has banned PVC materials, the factory has not mass-produced products of this material for two years, so it is "inconvenient" for the factory to start making PVC mooncake trays again.

Consumers cannot identify the material of mooncake trays

Recently, a reporter from Beijing Youth Daily visited 7 large supermarkets and community stores and bought 6 mooncakes of different specifications and grades. Among them, only one mooncake tray had a product mark on the bottom, which was marked with the relevant logo of quality certification and the product batch number, but the production material was not marked.

"When we buy goods, we look for brands. We can't go wrong with famous brands, and we can sell them with confidence." In the Tiankelong Supermarket in Yaojiayuan, Chaoyang District, a staff member in charge of mooncake sales said that they didn't know what materials the mooncake trays in the mooncakes they bought were made of.

An old man who was selecting mooncakes said that it was impossible for citizens to recognize what mooncake trays were used for mooncakes on the market and whether they were safe or not. These mooncake trays were either covered by the packaging or blocked by desiccant.

Reporter's observation

PVC food packaging safety causes controversy

In 2011, the National Development and Reform Commission issued Order No. 9, announcing a ban on the production and sale of PVC food packaging materials in June of that year. On December 23 of the same year, the General Office of the National Development and Reform Commission issued "Development and Reform Office (Industry) No. 3213" document, suggesting that the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine delay the elimination of the product on the grounds that "immediate elimination of polyvinyl chloride as food packaging containers will have a greater impact on the industry, and developed countries and regions such as the United States, Europe, and Japan have not yet banned polyvinyl chloride as food packaging containers."

In February this year, the National Development and Reform Commission issued Order No. 21, stating that from May 1 this year, "polyvinyl chloride packaging products that directly contact beverages and food" will be deleted from the "elimination category" products.

However, this did not eliminate people's doubts about the safety of PVC food packaging. A doctoral supervisor in the field of polymer chemistry and physics at a university in Beijing told the Beijing Youth Daily reporter that PVC material itself is not harmful, but it needs to add some additives during processing, such as plasticizers, which are harmful to the human body. Therefore, products made of PVC material should not be in direct contact with food, otherwise the additives may penetrate into the food.

News memory

Four plastic raw materials

PVC: Polyvinyl chloride, a polymer material, is often used to make packaging materials, toys, handicrafts, etc. Some experts believe that it is not suitable for use as a material in direct contact with food.

PET: Polyethylene terephthalate. It has good toughness, friction resistance, and good stability. It is often used in food packaging and handicraft packaging.

PP: Polypropylene, a semi-crystalline material. It has good fluidity and toughness, and is often used for food packaging and medical packaging.

PS: Polystyrene, commonly used in disposable plastic tableware, combs, boxes, ballpoint pen barrels, children's toys, plastic shopping bags, etc.

Text/Reporter Meng Yan, Intern Reporter Chen Chen

Dong Xiaojun, Li Shujun, Clue provided by/Ms. Yang

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