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As the Mid-Autumn Festival approaches, mooncakes are becoming the protagonists of major shopping malls. At this time of year, the luxury and quality of mooncakes will become the focus of public opinion. However, for a long time, people have focused on the flashy outer packaging of mooncakes, but they tend to ignore the health and safety issues of "close contact" with the outer packaging.

"The paper boxes used to package mooncakes are basically toxic!" A few days ago, Mr. Shao, who is engaged in mooncake making in Foshan, reported to the Southern Daily reporter that the mooncake boxes sold on the market contain toluene. If consumers eat mooncakes in such toxic packaging boxes, they will suffer from chronic poisoning and even cancer.

Food packaging professionals remind consumers that when buying mooncakes, they should not only look at the quality of the mooncakes themselves, but also pay attention to whether the mooncake packaging is environmentally friendly to avoid causing harm to the body.

Revelation

The mooncake packaging has a pungent smell

"The mooncake packaging is getting more and more exquisite, but the safety problem is very prominent." Mr. Shao said that a few days ago, in order to purchase mooncake packaging, he went to the wholesale market to buy some, but as soon as he approached the wholesale stall, he could smell a pungent smell.

According to Mr. Shao, the reason why the mooncake packaging emits such a pungent smell is the glue used to stick the packaging. "These glues contain toxic toluene chemicals. I saw that some employees of the packaging factory had rotten hands. Consumers who eat mooncakes in this packaging will definitely be affected."

"Some packaging boxes are wrapped layer by layer, and each layer must be glued with glue, which is more harmful." Mr. Shao said that for the human body, this kind of poisoning is long-term and will cause chronic poisoning. And the migrant workers working inside inhale this toxic gas every day, which is even more harmful. I hope that through your appeal, this industry can be purified and the health of migrant workers can be protected. "

According to reporters, toluene enters the human body mainly through inhalation, ingestion, and absorption through the skin. Health hazards include irritation to the skin and mucous membranes, and anesthetic effects on the central nervous system. If a high concentration is inhaled in a short period of time, there may be obvious irritation symptoms of the eyes and upper respiratory tract, congestion of the conjunctiva and pharynx, dizziness, headache, nausea, vomiting, chest tightness, weakness in the limbs, staggering gait, and confusion. Severe cases may have agitation, convulsions, and coma. Long-term contact can cause neurasthenia syndrome, hepatomegaly, dry skin, chapped skin, dermatitis and other chronic poisoning symptoms.

"The chemicals contained in adhesives are very toxic to the human body. "Food packaging professionals pointed out that many "three-no" packaging boxes are produced by small workshops and have questionable quality. Some small processing plants use fluorescent brighteners to improve the whiteness of paper during the production process. This substance is carcinogenic. It is understood that the manufacturer's name, address and telephone number should be marked on regular food packaging boxes.

Current situation

Plastic mooncake trays and oil paper have no hygienic guarantee

After visiting several mooncake packaging wholesale markets in Guangzhou, Guangzhou citizen Ms. Chen also complained to reporters about the chaos. "I originally planned to make mooncakes myself and give them to relatives and friends, but the wrapping paper on the market was too unhygienic, so I had to give up the plan in the end. ¡±

According to Ms. Chen, she first planned to wrap the mooncakes with oil paper, but when she went to the store, she found that a stack of oil paper was simply covered with a plastic bag. When a customer bought one, the boss would take one. Fearing that it would be dirty, she did not buy it. The whole market gave her the impression of being "dirty, messy and poor", which made her really dare not imagine that what people eat is closely related to this place.

And according to the reporter's investigation, in recent years, some manufacturers have used gold and silver mooncake trays to hold mooncakes in order to make mooncakes look high-end. Some of these brightly colored mooncake trays are made of recycled plastics with gold and silver powder added. The sources of these recycled plastics are complex, and some even come from medical waste, pesticide bottles, etc. The mooncake trays made of recycled plastics and gold and silver powder are prone to contain a large amount of toxic substances and heavy metals.

Interpretation

Recycled plastics dissolve mercury and cadmium when they meet mooncake oil

"Polyvinyl chloride, the main component of recycled plastics, is a toxic chemical raw material. The state explicitly stipulates that it cannot be used in food packaging." "Dong Jinshi, Secretary General of the International Food Packaging Association, said that when polyvinyl chloride meets acidic and oily substances, the toxic components will be released. Mooncakes themselves have a relatively high oil content and are more likely to absorb toxic substances in recycled plastics.

Among them, mercury and cadmium are two highly toxic heavy metals. Mercury will sink into the liver after being consumed by the human body, causing great damage to the brain, nerves, and vision. Cadmium can replace part of the calcium in the bones, causing osteoporosis, softening and spasms, and in severe cases causing natural fractures and even malformations. Cadmium can also cause high blood pressure, cause cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, damage the liver and kidneys, and can cause renal failure.

Reminder

"Colored" is more suspicious

According to Dong Jinshi, in general, colored mooncake trays are unsafe, and white and Transparent ones are not made of recycled plastic, so they are relatively safer. He suggested that consumers can check the mooncake tray against the light and sunlight. If there are obvious impurities, black spots, and uneven color in the mooncake tray, it is likely to be recycled plastic. If it smells strange, it is also very dangerous.

Dong Jinshi reminded consumers not to be fooled by bright packaging when buying mooncakes, because some beautifully packaged boxed mooncakes are likely to contain toxic substances, and boxed mooncakes are generally kept in cold storage for a long time and may not be fresh enough.

In addition to using mooncake trays, many mooncakes are now covered with a layer of plastic packaging. According to food packaging professionals, toxic and harmful chemical pollutants remaining in plastic packaging materials may migrate and dissolve under certain conditions, causing food contamination. "If it smells like plastic, it must be a toxic and harmful product. "The source also reminded that the surface of wooden food packaging containers must be treated or coated, and the coloring pigments may also contain heavy metal salts. The moon cake and tea packaging boxes made of density fiberboard, which are particularly popular now, are worrying because they contain a large amount of free formaldehyde and other harmful volatile substances.

Read the numbers to identify the packaging box

Tips

A triangular number symbol will appear at the bottom of most plastic packaging boxes. The entire pattern may also include arrows or other numbers. These contents are used to distinguish the product material category. If you can't find relevant content on the outer packaging of the product, you must think twice before buying it. When buying food boxes, a few numbers deserve our special attention.

Number 3: This number represents PVC. This material has a hard texture and is often used to make food boxes, water pipes and building materials. It is widely used in daily life. Generally Generally speaking, food boxes made of this material are only suitable for storing dry foods with little moisture, such as rice and pasta. PVC is not resistant to high temperatures, so be sure to transfer the food to a microwave-friendly food container before heating it.

Number 6: This is the symbol of polystyrene. This material sometimes appears foamy and is mainly used to make disposable lunch boxes, water cups and tableware. Among all types of food packaging materials, polystyrene has the lowest melting point, so although it can be used to hold warm food, never use food boxes made of this material for direct heating.

Number 7: This number represents materials other than PVC and polystyrene or synthetic materials of multiple plastic materials. If the raw material of the food box is polycarbonate (containing BPA), this number will appear on the product. There are many kinds of food boxes with different materials, and their heat resistance and maintenance methods are also different. Be sure to read the product instructions carefully before use and strictly follow the manufacturer's instructions.

Nanfang Daily reporter Zhao Binghui

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