Some cling films exceed the standard for plasticizers by 76 times. Sliced watermelons and pre-packed cooked foods are usually wrapped with a layer of cling film. But how good is the quality of this unnoticed cling film? Between June and July, the International Food Packaging Association conducted an in-depth investigation into the cling films sold and used at large supermarkets and wholesale markets such as Auchan Superstore Jinsijidian branch and Jinxiuda Earth Wholesale Market for Agricultural Products. The results showed that three types of cling films exceeded the standard for the plasticizer DEHP. In some cases, it was over 76 times the limit.
In this sampling test of seven PVC cling film samples, the company "Beijing Wei Yi Gao Fen Zi Hua Xue You Xian Gong Si" produced Chang Qing Shu cling film which exceeded the DEHP standard by 76 times; "Riken Food Packaging (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd." produced cling film which exceeded the DEHP standard by 31 times; "Lin Pak Packaging (Changzhou) Co., Ltd." produced Lin Pak cling film which exceeded the DEHP standard by nearly 6 times.
It is understood that there are two commonly used types of cling films on the market: one called PE cling film and the other called PVC cling film. Comparatively speaking, PVC cling film is more transparent and has stronger adhesion. During production, plasticizers, also known as softeners, are added to PVC cling film. Plasticizers can easily migrate into oily foods. In 2005, the National Quality Supervision Bureau clearly prohibited companies from directly packaging meat, cooked food, and oily foods with PVC food cling film.
However, the investigation found that in supermarkets, most of the cling film used in the fruit and vegetable area is made of PVC material, while both PE and PVC materials are used in the cooked food and fresh meat areas. Moreover, supermarket staff do not know the specific usage range of PVC cling film.
Why is PVC cling film so favored? Dong Jinshi, Executive Vice President of the International Food Packaging Association, said that the transparency of PVC is better than PE, and after packaging, it does not easily form fog; secondly, because PVC contains plasticizers, its adhesion during packaging is stronger than PE; most importantly, the cost of PVC is lower.
How to identify and select cling film? Experts taught reporters a trick: look if the cling film package has product instructions, the "QS" mark, number, and detailed address of the manufacturer; if it says polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or does not specify the material, try not to purchase it; check the color of the whole roll of cling film, yellowish ones are made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) material, while white ones are made of polyethylene (PE) material; cling film sold in supermarkets is generally PE cling film, while cling film sold in wholesale markets is mostly PVC cling film.
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Website for reference: www.testchamber.com.tw