Can disposable lunch boxes be microwaved?
Convenience, no cooking fumes, and no need to wash dishes are one of the important reasons why people choose takeout.
Takeaways are all packaged in disposable lunch boxes. After eating, the package will be thrown away and everything will be fine. It even saves the young couple from fighting over who washes dishes and chopsticks.
Recently, various provinces and cities have ushered in a wave of resumption of work, and some local schools have also started classes. In order to avoid the spread of the new crown virus, various companies have changed from queuing up for big pot meals to "meal for one person", and the tableware and chopsticks have also been replaced by disposable lunch boxes.
Ms. Ma, who lives in Beijing, told a reporter from China Food Safety Network that she has resumed work for several days, and she always feels a strange smell when she eats meals packaged in disposable lunch boxes every day. I heard that heating disposable lunch boxes is toxic, is it true?
01Is the heating of disposable lunch boxes toxic?
The epidemic has slowed down recently, but people's awareness of prevention is still very strong. Some netizens are worried that the takeaway packaging will be contaminated with viruses, so they put the meals together with the disposable lunch box in the microwave to heat it up.
It is said on the Internet that the heating of disposable lunch boxes is toxic, and long-term consumption of meals in disposable lunch boxes may cause cancer.
Is the heating of disposable lunch boxes really toxic?
In this regard, a reporter from China Food Safety Network interviewed Zhu Yi, an associate professor at the School of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering, China Agricultural University.
"Whether the disposable lunch box is toxic depends on the material." Associate Professor Zhu Yi said, "There are basically two types of disposable lunch boxes on the market, polypropylene (PP) and polystyrene (PS). )."
The disposable lunch box made of polypropylene (PP) can be heated at a maximum temperature of not more than 120 °, and can be placed in a microwave oven or a steamer.
But polystyrene (PS) lunch boxes, that is, disposable polystyrene foamed lunch boxes, can only be heated to 90°. After being heated at a temperature of more than 90°, styrene will be released into the food, which will have certain harm to the human body's liver and kidney functions and the central nervous system. There is even a risk of cancer if used for a long time.
Some merchants also use polypropylene material for the box body and polypropylene material for the box cover to balance the cost. This is why people sometimes see that the lid of the lunch box has been melted and deformed, and even some small holes appear after taking the disposable lunch box out of the microwave oven.
If you encounter this kind of "spliced material" disposable lunch box, it is better to take off the box cover, or replace it with a self-use lunch box cover for heating.
02 Toxic migration of disposable lunch boxes
Faced with the view that some materials of disposable lunch boxes may be toxic after heating, some people may have to ask.
Then I ordered takeout, as long as it is in a disposable lunch box, can't I eat it?
After the food is out of the pot, it also has a certain temperature, and it is already toxic when it is sent all the way?
Ms. Ma reported that sometimes after getting the takeaway, she would see that the disposable lunch box had become soft and deformed, which made people feel uncomfortable, uncomfortable and wasteful.
In fact, the plastic lunch box has become soft, indicating that some harmful low-molecular-weight substances in the material have begun to melt into the soup. Try to choose meals to eat, the soup is recommended not to eat.
Regarding this issue, Associate Professor Zhu Yi once conducted an experiment. The plasticizer can only be detected after one or two hours, but the migration time of monomers in other plastics is not necessarily.
In short, it is safest to eat as soon as possible.
Even so, it's not that you don't have to consider the toxicity of disposable lunch boxes when you eat takeaway.
When some netizens usually order food online, they will see that most businesses will charge an additional package fee, and the price of a one-time lunch box ranges from one to three yuan. When I get it, I feel that the material is okay, and I will use it repeatedly.
Some netizens ordered takeout and couldn't eat it, and put the remaining half in the refrigerator and then reheated it for consumption the next day.
Neither approach is desirable.
There are many varieties of additives in disposable lunch boxes. It is impossible for us to determine the formula of each one. Even if it is the same type of product from the same company, many factors will prompt them to adjust the formula, so it is necessary to judge the contents of the box lid. The characteristics of the auxiliaries need to be specially tested, which is obviously unrealistic, and the best way is to avoid it as much as possible.
When you get the meal in the disposable lunch box, the safest way is to transfer it in time, transfer it from the disposable lunch box, and put it into a heat-resistant and high-temperature resistant lunch box for personal use.
Eat it as soon as possible, do not leave the meal in the disposable lunch box until the next day and then reheat it for use. The risk will also increase after the disposable lunch box is repeatedly heated and used.
03How to identify a safe disposable lunch box?
The materials of disposable lunch boxes have different characteristics. How to identify safer disposable lunch boxes?
01 Look at the hardness, smell the smell
You can smell it. If there is an obvious pungent smell, don’t choose it; you can pinch it. The inferior disposable lunch box is easy to be torn, and the hardness is not strong enough. The food may even burn the lunch box. .
02 Avoid low-priced, three-no products
Try to choose a disposable lunch box made of polypropylene with a slightly higher price. The stability of polystyrene is not as good as that of polyethylene, and the relative risk is also higher.
You can see if there are relevant certificates of conformity, and do not choose some unknown three-no products.
03 Look at the appearance
Do not choose a disposable lunch box that is brightly colored or too dark. Disposable lunch boxes that are brightly colored and too dark may obscure the original color of the lunch box.
And pay attention to whether there are impurities and mildew on the surface of the lunch box. Such a lunch box may be a "refurbished" product that is remade using waste plastic as raw materials.
04 Look at the safety signs
Have you noticed that there will be some transparent bumps on the disposable lunch box, which are safety signs, which are divided into 1234567 grades.
At present, the packaging boxes on the market are mainly 1, 5, and 6. Generally speaking, they are all safe.
No. 1 and No. 6: relatively poor heat resistance, can not be heated, can not hold high temperature food. The plastic bottles of mineral water, fruit juice and carbonated drinks are made of No. 1 material; now many milk tea cups are made of No. 6;
No. 5: It can withstand high temperatures of about 200 ℃, and can be heated in a microwave oven, and there is no problem with repeated heating.
Therefore, generally only plastic of No. 5 pp material can be put into the microwave oven for heating.
Although it is resistant to high temperature, because some components in plastic products are fat-soluble, if the fat content in the food is high, it is very conducive to their dissolution. Although it is not necessarily harmful, it is not a good thing. It can be avoided as much as possible.
For example, vegetables, boiled fish, prosperous hair and blood... These foods with a lot of oil should not be taken out and packaged on the premise that the appetite can be controlled.