Colored plastic bags wrapped in peeled fruit

Yesterday, Mr. Gao, who lives in Rainbow City, Binjiang, Hangzhou, bought two pineapples in a fruit shop near Santang. He asked the owner to cut the pieces and put them in plastic bags. As a result, when he returned home, he smelled a pungent plastic smell on the pineapple. When they arrived at the store, the shop owner said, "It may be caused by plastic bags. These bags are cheap. The weather is hot recently. The taste will be a bit heavy."

As the weather turns hot, it is the peak season for fruit sales. However, various kinds of fruit packaging problems have emerged one after another. In addition to the fact that it has been circulated that fruit labels are inedible, recently there have been problems with pine nuts in the use of colored plastic bags. In this regard, some experts said that in theory, chemicals in the labels and colored plastic bags will penetrate into the interior of fruits and vegetables, even after the use of water is difficult to wash.

Colored plastic bags are mostly made of waste plastic. According to a Beijing media survey, the roadside fruit stalls are often used to wrap the cut pineapple in yellow ultrathin plastic bags. For such an approach, Dong Jinshi, executive vice president of the International Food Packaging Association, said that it is not desirable. He said that the ultra-thin plastic bag with color is likely to be used illegally by manufacturing enterprises to recover waste plastics. In order to cover the impurities brought by waste plastics, yellow masterbatch was added to the production to dye plastic bags.

Dong Jinshi said that this type of plastic shopping bag of unknown origin would have major safety and hygiene risks if used to hold food. Because waste plastic contains a large number of toxic and harmful substances such as heavy metals, it will precipitate with the juice of pineapple. People's consumption of contaminated pineapple will damage the liver and kidneys, and even cause cancer.

According to Master Li, who is engaged in sales of fruits for many years in Hangzhou, colored plastic bags were very common in the fruit retail industry. This aspect is for the sake of selling fruits like apples, citruses in red, and pineapples and bananas in yellow. Appearance increases the color of the fruit. More importantly, colored plastic bags are much cheaper than colorless and transparent plastic bags. "Colorless and transparent plastic bags are made of new materials, priced at 5-8 yuan / 100, converted to only 5 minutes -8 cents each, while colored plastic bags only need 2 points -3 points. ”

Master Li said that the colored plastic bags are of poor quality, are easy to break, have a very rough feel, and have a strong plastic smell. Now, he basically has no use in sales. Some of the discerning customers who purchase strawberries, bayberry and other direct-to-eat fruits, as well as peeled and cut watermelons and pineapples, are required to be packed in plastic boxes with good materials, and then use plastic wrap. Sealing up, the cost of such packaging is probably an additional one yuan per copy.

Domestically produced fruit labels are mostly self-paste at fruit stalls, such as watermelons, fragrant pears, bananas, and kiwifruit. Whether they are imported fruits or domestically produced fruits, they are all affixed with a small label, which is worth a lot of money. According to industry insiders, in fact, the small labels for domestically produced fruits are basically self-adhesive for retailers. The above information is not only worthless, and the adhesives are also likely to contaminate the fruit.

Xu Xinyou, deputy general manager of Hangzhou Fruit Wholesale Market, said that the practice of labeling fruits was previously used only for imported foods. It is mainly used to print PLU codes that conform to international standards for food identification and customs inspection, but not mandatory. Use imported fruit. And now many domestic fruit sellers have begun to post this small label, mainly to make the product appear to grade, in order to increase the price or expand sales. The Hangzhou Fruit Wholesale Market prohibits the sale of these small labels.

Master Li said that the small labels used in domestic fruits are made of paper and are easily torn; the small labels on imported fruits are made of nylon and it is difficult to tear them directly.

Some domestic experts believe that adhesives used to attach labels and fruits contain toxic chemicals such as benzene, toluene, and xylene, and direct consumption may cause harm to the human body. The general label is attached to the skinned fruit, so besides peeling food, it is best not to eat under the fruit label.
Buying tape to bundle vegetables also requires attention. In addition to the fruits, there are also hidden dangers in the packaging of fresh vegetables. Many vegetables in supermarkets and farmers' markets were taped and sold. Some vegetables are wrapped in plastic wrap and wrapped with tape, but vegetables such as baby food, beans, garlic sprouts and other vegetables are directly tied with tape. Dong Jinshi believes that the tapes generally contain substances that are harmful to humans, such as benzene, and cannot directly contact vegetables and fruits.

Due to safety concerns, some cities in China have issued “tape bans” on vegetables. In the previous year, the Agricultural Committee of Harbin City issued the “Circular Concerning the Prohibition of Direct Use of Tape in Bundling and Sales of Vegetables”. It is believed that adhesives contain multiple chemical components and it is difficult to clean the vegetables and cause harm to humans. It is necessary to call stop. The notice made it clear that if the manufacturer is still using tape, it will be fined no more than 2,000 yuan if found.

Fan Rui, a food expert of the Guangdong Food Society, said that the problem of strapping vegetables and fruits with adhesive tapes really needs to be regulated. Although the glue is a high-molecular polymer, its chemical properties are relatively stable, it is not water-soluble, and it is not easy to penetrate into the interior of fruits and vegetables. At the same time, there are still food safety risks associated with tying fruits and vegetables with tape.

Some experts believe that the tape is divided into food-grade tape and ordinary tape, the most critical of which is adhesives, but the use of adhesive tapes on the market currently does not have related marks, so people cannot determine whether their materials are safe.