Only last week, the Health Ministry informed Malaysians not to reuse plastic food and water containers. Yesterday, the Malaysian Plastics Forum (MPF) insisted that packaging and containers made from plastic and polystyrene are secure to use or for use again.
Its president Lim Kok Boon said that this was because the rare ingredients used to make the completed stuffs fulfilled with global standards such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
He said that the resin stuffs were accepted materials for the industrialized of food containers and packaging material.
He said it was used in making things such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, totalling that clean exercises useful to the goods, in spite of whether they were readied of plastic, steel or glass.
The MPF is invented of the Malaysian Plastics Manufacturers Association, the Malaysian Petrochemicals Association and the Plastics Resins Producers Group.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek had advised consumers last week not to reuse plastic food and water containers because their feature was “questionable” and Malaysians were at danger of being free to chemicals that might have seeped into the food or liquid.
Dr Chua’s report was found on a lesson that the ministry had made to order Universiti Malaya’s Faculty of Medicine to complete.
The lesson proved that in 45 of the 47 containers researched; at least one chemical was found. But, the level of the leach ate detected was low and the capacity was to study chemicals in plastic and polystyrene food containers.
Lim said that found on scientific proof, the FDA had strong-minded that PET was safe for use as drink bottles and other food packaging products – for specific and frequent use.
When asked how regularly the resin goods manufacturers sent samples for testing to the FDA, Lim agreed that he did not know but worried that because they were ‘huge’ international corporations, they would stay on to the required standards.
He said members could on a unpaid basis send their completed products for testing at Sirim Bhd.
In the case of high density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic bags used for packing hot and cold beverages, Lim said the FDA had approved their use based on data from years of research and testing, and they fulfilled with the Malaysian Food Act 1983 and Malaysian Food Regulations 1985.
He said flexible polystyrene containers had outstanding thermal protecting abilities.
“They keep hot food hot and cold food cold, while you hold the package in comfort,” he said, adding that an additional layer of material was not needed to separate the food and container as it was designed to be safe for use.