Poisonous Plastic Plates in Beijing Supermarkets

First there was melamine in the milk, then allegations of mercury in soft drink. Now China Daily is reporting some plastic tableware sold in Beijing markets and supermarkets, including Carrefour and Auchan, is toxic.

The article in today’s China Daily quotes Dong Jinshi, secretary general of the International Food Packaging Association, warning that certain bowls and plates sold in Beijing are “contaminated with urea-formaldehyde resin, a substance that could produce carcinogenic chemicals when heated.”

The article continues: “Dong said the tainted tableware, which is not suitable for food, is sold together with dishes that are suitable for food consumption. He said the similar appearances would likely confuse customers, leading them to purchase unsafe tableware. In the Carrefour Fangyuan supermarket, hundreds of melamine dishes containing the toxic resin were found on sale alongside tableware approved for use with food.”

The dishes in question apparently carry warnings stating, “Container cannot be used as tableware," but the IFPA argues the label fails to make clear that these containers should not be used to store food.

The same China Daily article notes there was a crackdown in 2009 on unlicensed melamine tableware, “after media reported that 80 percent of melamine dishes sampled from five chain stores and eight wholesale markets contained urea-formaldehyde or other ingredients that were poisonous when heated.”

The article states safe melamine tableware carries a “QS logo,” but Beijingers are perhaps better off avoiding plastic dishes altogether and sticking to ceramic and glass – we get enough melamine in our dairy products.