When it comes to eating street food, we often spend a lot of
time worrying about what’s in the food, but not enough time worrying about what
the food is in. Be they bun kebabs, samosas or any other downtown snack, odds
are that the food you buy from street vendors will be wrapped in a newspaper.
Now, here’s why this is bad news for you:
Wrapping fried food in newspapers is a very unhealthy practice and
its consumption is injurious to health, even if the food has been cooked
hygienically. The reason is simple; the hot oil in, say, pakoras, facilitates
the seeping of chemicals from ink and paper into the food. The newspaper ink
contains many hazardous chemicals which can trigger serious health problems.
Exposure to a class of organic chemicals called arylamines, such
as benzidine, 2-Naphthylamine and 4-Aminobiphenyl, is associated with high
risks of bladder and lung cancer. Apart from these, printing inks also contain
colorants, pigments, binders, additives and photo-initiators (used for speeding
up the drying process of the ink), which have harmful effects.
There are literally thousands of ink chemicals and a majority of
them can be dangerous for consumers. Newspapers are usually produced by a
system called offset-web printing, which requires a certain consistency of the
ink (it needs to be very thick) and a particular means of drying. For the
former, mineral oils (petroleum-based) and solvents such as methanol, benzene
and toluene are used; and for the latter, heavy metal (Cobalt)-based drying
agents are used. None of these should be used in food packaging, as they are
also classified as harmful and can be perilous for consumers’ health.
Some offset printing ink formulations use vegetable oils rather
than mineral oils; however, they have strong odours and should not be used in
food packaging. Given the long-term risk from protracted exposure from an early
age, the sale of such tainted foods to school children, a common sight in all
our cities, must also be avoided and there is an urgent need to raise awareness
on this issue.
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Photos by Faisal
Mujeeb/White Star
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Mineral oil-based printing inks for newspapers contain mineral
oil which consists of various types of hydrocarbon molecules that can exist as
Mineral Oil Saturated Hydrocarbons (MOSH) and Mineral Oil Aromatic Hydrocarbons
(MOAH). These hydrocarbons usually convert into gases by evaporation that
eventually penetrates food items.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation/World Health
Organisation (FAO/WHO) Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives, the safe upper
limit for the MOSH in foodstuffs is 0.6mg/kg. Older people, teenagers, children
and people with compromised vital organs and immune system are at a greater
risk of acquiring cancer-related health complications.
Another similar problem which has been noticed in the city is
that fast food restaurants are packing burgers and soups in thin, transparent
plastic bags, as takeaways. These clear synthetic bags are typically made of
polyethylene (polythene) and the principal potential ‘migrant’ agent is
ethylene. There are a number of potential additives to polythene, such as
anti-static agents, ultra-violet protection and flame retardants. These
additives can be very dangerous if they move into the takeaway food.
In a recent commentary in the prestigious British Medical
Journal ‘Food packaging and migration of food contact materials: will
epidemiologists rise to the neotoxic challenge? J. Epidemiol’ by Muncke J, et
al. (Feb 2014) scientists say that most food contact materials (FCMs) are not
inert. Chemicals contained in the FCM, such as monomers, additives, processing
aids or reaction by-products, can diffuse into foods and this chemical
diffusion is accelerated by warm temperature — an aspect which is fully
applicable for Karachi.
The scientists further say that FCMs are a significant source of
chemical food contamination. As a result, humans consuming packaged or
processed foods are chronically exposed to synthetic chemicals at low levels
throughout their lives.
Formaldehyde, another known carcinogen, is widely present at low
levels in plastic bottles made of polyethylene terephthalate. Other chemicals
known to disrupt hormone production and used in food and drink packaging,
include Bisphenol A, tributyltin, triclosan and phthalates.
The hot oil in, say,
pakoras, facilitates the seeping of chemicals from ink and paper into the food.
The newspaper ink contains many hazardous chemicals which can trigger serious
health problems.
While using teabags,
some people squeeze the teabag using the label fixed at the other end of the
thread. As it can leak the ink from the label, it is recommended that the
teabags should be squeezed by using the thread only.
Note:Shared from dawn.com
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