"Good for the environment" - but not so good for you!

[alan refail]

Just goes to show that little is as simple as it seems

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12663183

[Nature's Babe]

Isn't it time they tested these things properly before they are put on the shelves? what are food standards agency doing with their time?

[Johnboy]

Hi Alan,
I am totally amazed that this fact was not discovered long ago before the packaging was used for foodstuff.
The trouble with information like this is, in this country, they will either pursue it to the last enth degree or totally ignore it altogether.
The Swiss food safety's comment:

However, the Swiss food safety authorities have concluded that consumers who eat a balanced and varied diet have no need to worry.

I just wonder what our food safety agency will make of it and what action they will take.
JB.

[peter]

Isn't it time they tested these things properly before they are put on the shelves? what are food standards agency doing with their time?

Cardboard is not food.

[Geoff]

Does that dispel the old urban myth that there is more nutrition in cereal boxes than the cereal?
Anyway, aren't all the contents secondary packed so there is no contact with the carton?

[Nature's Babe]

Peter, I took the time to check it and they are supposed to test everything that comes into contact with food, and that includes things like conveyor belts and linings of tins. Also some things like crisps and pet buiscuits go straight into cardboard, animals should be protected too.

[peter]

According to the several newspaper articles I have read, the mineral oils from the printing ink in recycled cardboard outer packaging pass through the inner packaging while the products are sitting in warehouse/shop/larder.

Surely the solution is to use water based inks that do not contain harmful substances?

[peter]

Peter, I took the time to check it and they are supposed to test everything that comes into contact with food, and that includes things like conveyor belts and linings of tins. Also some things like crisps and pet buiscuits go straight into cardboard, animals should be protected too.

NB, was this "direct contact"?

I suspect it was, otherwise where does one draw the line?

Because exterior packaging like a cornflake box does not actually touch the food, as it is contained within a heat sealed plastic bag the cardboard is not touching the food.

If everything likewise protected had to be tested then every hand of every worker would have to be tested, despite the rubber gloves.

[Elle's Garden]

Because exterior packaging like a cornflake box does not actually touch the food, as it is contained within a heat sealed plastic bag the cardboard is not touching the food.

Both the contents of Arborio rice (Sainsburys) and salt (Tidmans?) that I buy are directly in the cardboard box with no inner packaging. I can imagine that there are many other products that are likewise. A quick survey of my store cupboard reveals many items such as crackers and cornflour that are simply inside either thin plastic or paper inner bags. I cook most of our food from scratch so we have a "balanced diet", but if the food is coming out of packaging like this, then how does that stack up?

[peter]

Not so well for the food industry or the recycling of paper & cardboard.

Very well for makers of "virgin" cardboard.

However for each of us probably not too badly, this is "traces" and you probably breathe in ten years worth of similar chemicals from painting your woodwork indoors or having a new carpet fitted. No mention of how much you'd absorb from handling the original printed paper or cardboard.

At an It trade show presentation yesterday and presenter harked back to the 80s office (meaning computers & how few, + the lack of mobile contactability outside 9-5) and all that filled my mind was the image of my colleague across the desk smoking cheroots, far worse in that sealed air conditioned building.

[Elle's Garden]

However for each of us probably not too badly, this is "traces" and you probably breathe in ten years worth of similar chemicals from painting your woodwork indoors or having a new carpet fitted. No mention of how much you'd absorb from handling the original printed paper or cardboard.

Yes, good point - thank you!