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Customized packaging for your need.
In our daily life, when we buy food at roadside snack stalls and farmers' markets, many sellers often use plastic bags to package food. For example, steamed buns, grilled gluten, pancakes, vegetables, fruits, fresh food, and even freshly cooked beef noodles, spicy hot pot, etc. are inseparable from plastic bags. For sellers, the use of plastic bags greatly reduces packaging costs. But is it really safe to use these plastic bags to package food?
The plastic packaging bags in our daily life are divided into food packaging bags and non-food packaging bags. Food-grade plastics are produced under purification conditions and require the plastic itself to be non-toxic. Common ones include PET, non-toxic PVC, food-grade PE, PP, etc. According to national standards, plasticizers and vinyl chloride monomers mustn’t be detected in food plastic bags, and the heavy metal lead content should not exceed 1 mg per kilogram. Plastic bags for food must be marked with the words like” food-grade” and have food safety signs QS and numbers.
However, most vendors and snack stall owners usually buy a stack of plastic bags with the least cost. The price of food-grade plastic bags is often more than common plastic bags. So many snack stall owners use cheap plastic packaging purchased from wholesale markets in order to reduce their costs.
Most of these cheap plastic bags are made of processed old materials, or even all of them are made of old materials. These old materials are synthesized by processing and recycling plastic products. Their types are quite messy, and there may even be agricultural films, chemical barrels, and even hospital waste.
This type of plastic bags made of old materials doesn’t belong to food packaging bags. When it is in direct contact with food, especially when it encounters hot, oily, and acidic food, harmful substances such as vinyl chloride, phthalates, plasticizers, etc. in the plastic bag will precipitate, which is extremely harmful to human health.
How to judge the plastic bags for food:
Check the logo: Check whether the appearance of the plastic bag has the "food use" logo. This logo usually should be on the front of the packaging bag, in a more eye-catching position.
Smell: Smell the plastic bag to see if it has any peculiar smell and whether it makes people feel disgusted. Qualified plastic bags should be odorless, while unqualified plastic bags will have various smells due to the use of additives.
Feel the strength: Food-grade plastic bags have moderate strength and are not easy to break. Qualified plastic bags have a certain strength and will not break when torn. Unqualified plastic bags often have poor strength, which are easy to break due to the addition of impurities.
Qualified plastic bags will make a crisp sound when shaking, while unqualified plastic bags often make a dull "buzzing" sound.
Observe the transparency: High-quality food packaging plastic bags have good transparency, uniform texture, and no impurities.
Touch: Touch the surface of the plastic bag with your hand, it is very smooth and non-toxic. If the color is hazy, sticky and astringent to the touch, it is toxic.
Burning: Cut off a corner of the plastic bag and burn it on the fire. Non-toxic ones will burn immediately, and will continue to burn after leaving the fire. With a yellow flame, the molten plastic will drop like a candle, emitting a paraffin smell; toxic ones are not easy to burn, which will have green flames after burning, and have a pungent smell.
Generally speaking, colored plastic bags are mostly made of recycled waste plastics and cannot be used to pack food. For example, most black plastic bags in farmers' markets are made of waste plastics of poor quality such as waste packaging films and packaging bags, and a large amount of dark pigments are added to cover them.
Check whether the plastic bag has impurities. Put the plastic bag under the sun or light to see if there are black spots or holes. Plastic bags with impurities must have used waste plastic as raw materials.
Not all plastic bags are suitable for packaging food, and their safety depends on multiple factors.
In short, when choosing plastic bags for food packaging, you should observe and identify them carefully to ensure food safety.
Not all plastic bags are suitable for packaging food, which depends on the material and production standards of the plastic bags.
Generally speaking, plastic bags that meet the relevant standards for food contact materials, such as polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), are relatively safe when used correctly.
However, some plastic bags that do not meet the standards may contain harmful substances, such as plasticizers, stabilizers, etc., which may migrate into food and cause potential harm to human health.
Therefore, when judging whether plastic bags can be used to package food, the key is whether they comply with the relevant regulations and standards for food packaging.
When choosing plastic bags suitable for packaging food, you can refer to the following aspects:
1. Material: Polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) plastic bags are preferred. These two materials are generally considered safe food contact materials.
2. Labels: Pay attention to whether there are clear labels such as "food contact" and "food grade" on the plastic bag, as well as the relevant production license number and implementation standards.
3. Appearance: The bag should have a smooth surface, no odor, no impurities, uniform color, and good transparency.
4. Toughness and strength: It has appropriate toughness and strength, not easy to break or deform. The kind of bags can effectively protect food.
5. Purchase from formal channels: Choose to buy from formal supermarkets, stores or reputable suppliers to ensure product quality.
6. Check the test report: If conditions permit, you can ask the supplier to provide a product test report to confirm that it meets food safety standards.
In short, carefully identifying the above points will help you choose a plastic bag suitable for packaging food.
+853-68657023 (Olivia WANG)
