Some Japanese and Republic of Korea (ROK) companies have been accused of producing unsafe PVC food cover films in China by Chinese media which are more active than ever in the field of health.

According to recent reports by some Chinese newspapers, a number of Japanese and ROK-funded firms in China have been engaged in producing PVC film that is sold in many Chinese supermarkets, while local consumers have little knowledge about the possibly poisonous nature of the wrapping film that gives food a fresh look.

Chinese experts are quoted as saying that the use of PVC food packing film has been globally prohibited. Due to the ban in their own countries, some Japanese and ROK companies have relocated their factories to China.

"The Chinese market is terribly large," said a manager of a ROK company in Shanghai. "All hotels, restaurants and supermarkets are using PVC film to pack fresh food."

About 80 percent of PVC fold sheet is manufactured by Japanese and ROK companies in the country, according to a Shanghai-based financial paper.

There are two types of plastic fresh food covers. One is unsafe and possibly poisonous PVC and the others are PE and PVCD that are less poisonous and safe to use, said Wang Guoxian, an expert from the Shanghai Plastic Institute.

Actually, all these plastic food wrappers are poisonous under certain conditions. When people use electric heaters to process food wrapped in either PVC, or PVCD and PE films, contaminated elements detrimental to human health leak out, according to some Chinese experts.

Contaminative food covers can cause physical and mental damage to humans, such as congenital defects to the human body, sperm reduction, breast cancer and mental problems, and should be banned, according to some Chinese medical experts.

Japanese and ROK firms are producing PE covers in their own countries, but the product has never been exported to China, said the ROK manager. The best-quality wrapping film is manufactured by American companies, but it is too expensive and not available in the Chinese market, he added.

Media reports about the problem have caused great attention among local consumers and authorities. Beijing's municipal food safety office said it will issue a warning to local consumers soon. Some central government departments in charge of health and food safety are also expected to investigate the issue.

Meanwhile, some supermarkets in Shanghai have pledged to remove all PVC food covers from the shelves. "All our food wrappers will be PE products," said a local supermarket official.

Source: Xinhua