Reporter Li Xiuzhong from Shanghai
Banned in their own countries, Japan and South Korea's polyvinyl chloride (PVC) food cling film into China in a big way.
According to experts, PVC food cling film on the human body has a relatively large number of hazards, this cling film in the harmful substances are easy to precipitate, with the food into the human body, the human body has a carcinogenic effect, in particular, disrupting the human body's endocrine disruption, caused by women's breast cancer, newborn birth defects, male reproductive disorders, and even mental illnesses, and so on.
Currently, most of the food cling film for home use sold in China's domestic market is produced with safe polyethylene (PE) and polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC) materials. However, some supermarket fresh products such as vegetables, fruits and cooked food packaging but a large number of PVC cling film, more than 80% of these products from Japan and South Korea.
Hazardous to the human body
Dong Jinshi, deputy director of the China Packaging Resources Comprehensive Utilization Committee, told the First Financial Daily yesterday that compared with PE and PVDC products, PVC cling film is transparent, not easy to break, and at the same time has a very good viscosity. He said that the use of PVC food cling film a person a minute can wrap more than two dozen copies of the goods, but also can be packaged by machine, which is the reason why supermarkets are willing to use a large number of PVC cling film.
However, the advantages of PVC food cling film are based on its harm to people.
"Polyvinyl chloride in which there is chlorine, which is toxic.PVC food cling film has two main aspects of human harm: vinyl chloride monomer content is high, will be volatilized out; PVC cling film with the plasticizer is the main component of ethylhexylamine (DEHA). This substance is easy to precipitate, with the food into the body, the human body caused by carcinogenic effects, especially caused by endocrine, hormone disruption, so the human body to cause more harm." Weng Yunxuan, director of the National Supervision and Inspection Center for Plastic Products, told reporters.
Weng Yunxuan in the National Quality Supervision and Inspection Center for Plastic Products, the State General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the metrological certification, review of accreditation and authorization, with the statutory authority and third-party impartiality, is the performance of plastic products inspection of the highest technical institutions.
In fact, PVC is a hard plastic, to pull it into a transparent and soft plastic wrap, you must add a large number of plasticizers. DEHA is a kind of synthetic resin material added to increase the flexibility and elasticity of the product material, the content of PVC cling film is about 40% to 50%.
These plasticizers slowly seep out. Weng Yunxuan said the plasticizers are more likely to be released when the PVC film meets the grease of cooked food and seep into the food.
Shanghai Plastic Products Quality Supervision and Inspection Station engineer Yu Hongliang also introduced, DEHA consumption will interfere with human endocrine disruption, causing breast cancer in women, birth defects in newborns, male spermatozoa count is reduced, and even mental illness.
It is because of the seriousness of the harm, Europe banned the use of PVC as food packaging materials several years ago. Japan also eliminated PVC food packaging in 2000. According to the World Council of Packaging Organizations announced that the United States, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and European countries have now completely banned the use of PVC packaging materials.
However, this kind of "poisonous" food wrap has become popular in China in recent years.
Supermarkets use it in large quantities
"PVC food wrap has been around in China since 1995, and is mainly used in supermarkets and hotels." Liu Jingsheng, manager of Beijing Guoqing Integrity Technology Co. told reporters.
Liu Jingsheng from 1995 began to represent the "Mitsui", "Mitsubishi" and other Japanese high-grade PVC food cling film sales, claiming to be the earliest to do the domestic PVC food cling film people. He told reporters that in 1995, PVC food cling film of the national dosage of only a few tons, and now the annual dosage has exceeded 15,000 tons.
The reporter visited a number of large supermarkets in Shanghai, in the fresh food area of small packages of vegetables, fruits, and meat and cooked food most of the PVC cling film. In the Century Lianhua Changshou Road store, the reporter saw a large roll of PVC cling film in the meat area, sold meat without exception are packed with PVC cling film.
Dong Jinshi introduction, at present, the domestic PVC cling film brands are mainly LG, Mitsubishi, three Wing, three brands occupy 70% to 80% of the entire market, while Japan and South Korea products in the entire market occupies more than 80%.
"Now the domestic PVC food cling film is almost all Japan, South Korea's products, as well as China's Taiwan enterprises." Dong Jinshi told reporters.
In the domestic market, the main PVC cling film brands are Mitsui, Mitsubishi, County is, Nanya, Sanrong and so on.
Liu Jingsheng believes that, from the sales data in recent years, the domestic demand for PVC food cling film growth, more than 30% each year.
And this also for Japan and South Korea related companies to find a way out.
Shanghai County is a polymer materials Co., Ltd. is by the Japanese County is a polymer industry (Co., Ltd.) and the Shanghai Zhangqiao Economic Development Corporation *** with the establishment of investment in the Sino-Japanese joint venture.
Liu Jingsheng told reporters: "This is the Japanese domestic set off the first wave of PE instead of PVC, County is transferred to our country's enterprises. Is the first foreign enterprises in China to invest in food cling film production enterprises, but also the first domestic production of PVC cling film enterprises. The current annual output is around 2,000 tons."
It is understood that County is the only enterprise in Shanghai to produce PVC cling film, which occupies most of the market in Shanghai. The reporter contacted County is the company's sales people, to understand the company's views on the hazards of PVC food cling film, the other side said: "How do you think it is, you think there is, you think there is not, you think there is not."
"Now imported PVC cling film has been less, mostly in domestic production." Liu Jingsheng told reporters that he is currently acting as an agent of the "Mitsui" cling film sales of 100 tons a year.
October 2004, South Korea's San Rong Group invested 60 million U.S. dollars in Dalian, China, to create a wholly owned Bo film packaging products limited company - Dalian San Rong Chemical Co. The main production of PVC cling film, BOPP packaging film, CAPACITOR capacitor film. Among them PVC cling film *** 6 production lines, claiming an annual output of 10,000 tons.
"At present, most of them are sole proprietorships, and there are few joint ventures because there is no domestic counterpart. At the same time, due to the high profit margin of PVC cling film, foreign enterprises are also reluctant to joint ventures." Liu Jingsheng told reporters, "PVC food cling film is now priced at 20,000 yuan / ton, while the PVC raw material is only 10,000 yuan / ton, at least 50% of the profit is there."
Liu Jingsheng introduced, at present, Japan's wholly-owned PVC cling film enterprises, as well as Hangzhou NCI, Wuxi Riken and other enterprises, and a South Korean company is also preparing to produce PVC food cling film in Beijing.
Japanese and South Korean enterprises for the large-scale diversion to China, Dong Jinshi explained: "Japan, South Korea's domestic products are banned, but the industry to form a huge scale of production is not willing to be eliminated. They exist a huge scale of PVC raw material production enterprises as well as machinery and equipment enterprises, and therefore transferred to China."
Liu Jingsheng said: "At present, the production of PVC cling film machinery and equipment is almost entirely Japanese, this industry Japan does the best. At present, most of the domestic PVC cling film enterprises use Fuji Heavy Industries machinery and equipment."
No domestic production
"Foreign food cling film material development has gone through three stages, from vinyl chloride to polyvinyl chloride, and then to polyethylene." Yu Hongliang told reporters that he went abroad in the 1980s when he found that there are problems with PVC, so it was not introduced. The PE cling film production cost is low, the process is simple, unlike PVC need to add many kinds of additives, so his institute decided to introduce PE production technology.
He said the domestic food cling film enterprises are basically PE as raw materials.
The reporter learned from the Shanghai Plastics Industry Association that there are no PVC for food packaging companies that are members of the association. Weng Yunxuan also told reporters. "Getting our center to do quality testing of PVC cling film are foreign companies, including some domestic agents, there are no domestic companies."
No domestic enterprises now produce PVC cling film, but also because of its high technical requirements and high investment.
"And domestic PE cling film enterprises are some small companies, small groups, no one has the strength to do." Dong Jinshi introduced.
Liu Jingsheng told reporters that a production line plus auxiliary equipment requires more than 20 million yuan. So the current production of PVC food cling film enterprises are mostly attached to large chemical enterprise groups, and more Japanese and Korean enterprises.
Yu Hongliang revealed that foreign companies PVC cling film can smoothly enter China, because they can pass the relevant health standards.
It is understood that, at present, China's national standards for finished food-grade polyvinyl chloride was promulgated by the Ministry of Health in 1988.
Weng Yunxuan told reporters: "Although there are hazards in PVC cling film, our domestic regulations do not prohibit or explicitly restrict PVC food packaging. At present, our center is mainly in accordance with nationally designated standards for product testing. Those that pass the standards are considered qualified."
He said the standards now in place are lagging behind.
Yu Hongliang also said the old standards set in the past have apparently failed to keep pace with the times. As foreign countries have proposed bans or restrictions on PVC food packaging, the country should also take action.
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