Rumors
"Black plastic cutlery is the dirtiest"
There is news on the Internet that #Black plastic tableware is the dirtiest# sparked heated discussions among netizens, and some people claimed: "Black disposable dinner spoons are produced from recycled waste plastic, and there are all kinds of ingredients" and "The higher the transparency of the plastic, the safer it is"......
Rumor analysis
This statement is not rigorous enough.
The safety of plastic products made from recycled plastic has nothing to do with color, and we should pay more attention to the relevant labels and whether there is any peculiar smell than color.
Some time ago, the topic of "takeaway black spoon is the dirtiest" was on the hot search again.
According to some so-called "knowledgeable people", "black disposable spoons are produced from recycled waste plastic, and there are all kinds of ingredients", "the higher the transparency of the plastic, the safer"......
The picture comes from the Internet
Are these statements really reasonable? Today, I will explain to you from three aspects~
Where does the recycled plastic come from and where does it go?
Plastics can be divided into thermoset plastics and thermoplastics according to their different behavior after being heated. As the name suggests, thermosets remain solid when heated, while thermoplastics become liquid when heated.
Just as iron can be turned into molten iron when heated, thermoplastics can also be re-injected into molds or processing equipment to shape again after being heated into a liquid state, so waste thermoplastic products can be processed into products again through processes such as sorting, cleaning, crushing and melting, which is recycled plastic products, also known as recycled plastics.
Because it is difficult to determine the type and content of pollutants that recycled plastics are exposed to in the early use process, and then it is difficult to determine whether the residual pollutants inside them can be reduced to meet food safety standards after they are processed into plastic products, recycled plastics are usually used in the manufacture of building materials, pipeline materials, industrial production consumables and other fields with low requirements for pollutant residues.
The stock copyright picture, reprinting and using may cause copyright disputes
In the last century, countries around the world often had a clear opposition to recycling plastics for the production of food contact materials. Later, with the continuous development of plastic recycling technology and the improvement of evaluation and testing methods, recycled plastics represented by PET can be used as food contact materials in the United States, the European Union, Japan and other countries or regions under the premise of obtaining legal recognition and meeting regulatory requirements.
However, the current laws of the mainland and most countries do not clearly stipulate whether recycled plastics can be used in the recycled production of food contact products.
In 2022, the China Institute of Agricultural and Food Standardization wrote the article "Regulatory Strategies for the Primary Reuse of Foreign Food PET Bottles and Enlightenment to the Mainland", which mentioned that China should refer to the regulations, standard documents and test methods of Europe, America and Japan, establish a risk assessment system for recycled PET in the mainland on the basis of a large number of experimental data, and gradually formulate national food safety standards for domestic recycled PET materials.
Is black plastic really harmful?
Back to the question of black plastic cutlery.
Often, recycled plastics do not look good when mixed due to their variety of sources, and dark colorants such as carbon black are added to improve the appearance. However, this does not mean that the black plastic must be recycled plastic products, nor can it be said that transparent or other colors of plastic are necessarily better than black plastic, and black can only be dyed, and cannot cover up the odor of inferior plastic.
Photo credit: Yantian District Health Bureau
No, a news item in 2022 showed that after sampling a batch of disposable lunch boxes, the Jiangsu Provincial Quality Inspection Institute found that colored plastic lunch boxes may be decolorized, and during the experiment, white or pink powder will be precipitated. Therefore, Jiangsu Quality Inspection recommends that consumers try to choose transparent and colorless PP plastic tableware.
Summary and Recommendations
So, you don't have to worry too much about eating food from black plastic tableware for the time being. When using this kind of plastic tableware in daily life, you can pay more attention to see if there is a logo and whether the material marked is a permissible material. If you find that the plastic food has a pungent smell or has an abnormal appearance, you should also discard it in time and complain to the merchant.
Finally, accept this comparison table of common plastic products, and use it more assured~
| encode | name | Application examples: | Precautions |
| PET "1号" | Polyethylene terephthalate | Mineral water bottles, carbonated drink bottles, mobile phone films, etc | It is not resistant to high temperatures, it is easy to deform above 70 °C, and will release toxins, it cannot be recycled, it cannot be filled with hot water, it cannot be placed in the car to bask in the sun, and it cannot be filled with wine, edible oil, etc. |
| HDPE "2号" | High-density polyethylene | Plastic grocery bags, shopping bags, detergent bottles, etc | The surface is difficult to clean and easy to breed bacteria, so it is not recommended to recycle it in food and medicine. |
| PVC "3号" | polyvinyl chloride | It is commonly used in raincoats, sockets, water pipes, credit cards, etc | It is not a food-grade material and should not be recycled. |
| LDPE "4号" | Low-density polyethylene | plastic wrap, plastic film, etc | It is not recommended to microwave plastic wrap. |
| PP "No. 5" | polypropylene | Fresh-keeping boxes, lunch boxes, plastic cups, feeding bottles and other products | The only plastic that can be put in the microwave oven to heat. |
| PS "No. 6" | polystyrene | It is often used in foam packaging boxes, instant noodle boxes, foam packaging materials, etc | Do not put it in the microwave oven and avoid packing food that is too hot. |
| OTHER "No. 7" | Other types of resins, common types are polycarbonate vinegar (PC), styrene-acrylic eye copolymer (SAN), etc | It is commonly used in kettles, cups, feeding bottles and other products | Do not heat when using and do not expose to direct sunlight. |
According to the "rumor" mirror
"Disposable cutlery is black→ with black →dye added to cover up the waste", this reasoning seems to be rigorous, but there are many loopholes. In life, if we often rely only on "common sense inference" in this way, it is easy to be full of doubts and anxiety. Here's a good idea to learn about it and focus on what really matters.
Source: Science refutes rumors