Plastic products have brought many conveniences to people's lives, replacing bulky utensils and extending into various fields. Plastic bags, in particular, have become essential items in daily life, especially for shopping. Many snack stalls use disposable plastic bags to hold food in bowls, but it is not suitable to use plastic bags to hold hot and oily liquid food.
Using plastic bags to hold hot soy milk, tofu pudding, wontons, etc., some vendors put freshly fried dough sticks and pancakes in plastic bags for easy carrying by customers. Many breakfast stalls also use plastic film bags to cover bowls and plates and hold hot food. Food suppliers are willing to do this because it saves the trouble of washing dishes and makes customers feel clean. Many consumers also think this is more hygienic and avoids the transmission of bacteria through bowls and plates.
In fact, these plastic film bags have many hidden dangers and are not as clean and safe as consumers think. Many plastic film bags used by food stalls are cheap and inferior products produced by unregulated manufacturers. These plastic films may contain a large amount of harmful substances that have a very negative impact on health.
Customers generally accept plastic bags, and most customers think this practice is "hygienic" because plastic bags are new, transparent, and convenient to use. These plastic film bags are mostly made of polyvinyl chloride and are mostly made of recycled materials.
Experts have long discovered that polyvinyl chloride plastics contain residual vinyl chloride monomers. When people come into contact with vinyl chloride, symptoms such as wrist and finger swelling and skin hardening may occur, and there may also be symptoms such as enlarged spleen and liver damage. These plastic bags containing polyvinyl chloride add stabilizers and many substances that are harmful to health. These substances will release toxic substances such as lead when exposed to high temperatures.
When the temperature exceeds 50℃, the toxic components in the plastic bags will seep out, polluting the food and causing harm to the human body. When the temperature reaches 80℃, it will melt and release toxic substances. Milder symptoms may include dizziness and nausea, while more severe cases may have the possibility of causing cancer. If a pregnant woman is poisoned, the probability of fetal malformation is high. Experts point out that according to relevant regulations, plastic bags that directly contact food must have the "QS" logo (indicating quality and safety), but these plastic bags are relatively expensive, and most breakfast stalls do not use them.
Non-compliant hard plastic lunch boxes and plastic bags often contain industrial calcium carbonate and paraffin. Calcium carbonate can cause constipation or gallbladder and kidney stones, which can manifest in the human body in a matter of months or years. Paraffin can cause diarrhea.
Therefore, plastic bags used for street snacks or boxed meals, which have rich ingredients and are not thoroughly disinfected, pose great health risks to the human body. Using them to eat is even less sanitary and more dangerous than using utensils, and long-term use may cause chronic poisoning. Especially for the dark-colored plastic bags often used in stalls, the harm is even greater. If heavy metals in plastic bags exceed the standard, they will affect the blood system and intellectual development. These plastic bags are made from recycled waste plastic products and must not be used to package food for direct consumption. At the same time, it should also be noted that polyvinyl chloride plastic products should not be used to store alcoholic foods or oily foods because the lead in the bag will dissolve into the food.
The harm of plastic bags is very significant. In order to protect our health and the environment, we should try to reduce the use of plastic bags. If it is necessary to use plastic bags, choose relatively good quality ones to minimize the harm to the body. The toxicity of plastic bags can be observed with the naked eye: non-toxic plastic bags are milky white, semi-transparent, or colorless and transparent, flexible, and smooth to the touch; toxic plastic bags are turbid or pale yellow in color and sticky to the touch.
Editor's Note: Now many people are aware of the dangers of plastic bags and choose not to use plastic bags for packaging when buying food. Instead, they use baskets with woven handles to hold food. This habit is not conducive to food safety and hygiene. The bags used for packaging goods are made of industrial plastics. In addition to having certain toxicity themselves, various chemicals, including plasticizers and colorants, are also added during the manufacturing process. These packaging bags are not food packaging materials, so there are no restrictions on the toxic and harmful substances they contain.
In addition, the surface of these packaging bags is rough and easily contaminated with dirt, including bacteria and viruses, in the gaps. Putting food directly in baskets will contaminate the food with bacteria, so it is not appropriate to use baskets with woven handles to hold food that is directly consumed. It is prone to contamination by bacteria, viruses, and toxic chemicals.
