Urgent health warning over plastic cups containing bamboo as they could cause health issues including kidney damage
BRITS are warned against using dodgy plastic containing bamboo after a link was found between long-term use and kidney damage.
The Food Standard Agency (FSA) found prolonged exposure to cups and straws containing certain materials could pose grave health risks.
In addition to bamboo, Brits are advised not to use “food contact materials”, like cutlery and tupperware made from other dubious plant-based materials that can be used to make plastic mixes.
These include rice husks, wheat straw and hemp, which the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT) found were not proven safe for use.
The COT, backed by the FSA, found bamboo and similar materials in combination with plastic can mean the chemicals formaldehyde and melamine can leak into products at dangerously high levels.
Although formaldehyde is naturally produced by the human body, if we ingest too much it can lead to gastrointestinal symptoms.
They also found that melamine is barely poisonous over a short period of time but stress that longer exposure can be serious.
But when consumed at high levels, it can lead to kidney damage and harm the urinary tract.
While they acknowledge it’s very unlikely that using these plastic products every so often would harm you, the FSA is warning against lengthy exposure.
The long-term risk of using these products remains unclear and the FSA want to put a halt to retailers selling these plastics.
They also want people who already own these plastics to get rid of them or repurpose them.
These products have already been banned for sale as food contact materials in Northern Ireland.
But bamboo and plant-based materials on their own are not the culprit, the FSA say.
It’s only when you mix these largely untested materials with plastic that they pose a serious health risk.
The FDA admitted: “It may be difficult to tell whether a product is made from a bamboo-composite material once it has been removed from its packaging, but products will have a smooth surface and have the feel of plastic.”
Dr James Cooper, deputy director of food policy at the FSA said: “Our mission is to ensure food is safe and this also includes ensuring the products which come into contact with our food, such as containers and utensils, are safe too.”
“Following our robust risk assessment process, we have found there to be insufficient evidence to provide us with confidence that these products are safe for consumers to use.
“Therefore, our position remains that food containers and utensils containing bamboo composite material should not be sold in GB.”
“We don’t know the long-term impacts to health from using these products and we continue to have concerns that chemicals such as formaldehyde and melamine might leak from these materials when they are in contact with food, especially hot or acidic foods.”
“Previously, businesses were asked to remove these products from sale and, as a precautionary measure, consumers were advised that they should not use any of these products they had previously purchased until a full investigation into the potential risks had been completed.”
