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The civic body – Mysuru City Corporation – has urged restaurateurs, eateries and bakeries to steer clear of using newspapers to wrap food items. The directive, which came in light of the rise in cancer cases as well as other health issues, identified newspapers as one of the factors which might be the cause of bacterial contamination, viral or pathogen transfer to food, causing a slew of ailments. Since food items that come in contact with the newspapers are highly likely to absorb chemicals from the printed packing material, it could be one of the leading reasons for cancer-causing illnesses.
Image Credits: Wikimedia Commons
Although the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) had imposed a ban on the use of newspapers for packaging food products, a lot of hoteliers, shopkeepers, vendors, roadside joints and canteens continue to violate the rules. When printing ink comes in contact with hot frying oil that the newspaper absorbs from food, the bioactive chemicals, pigments, binders and preservatives pose a risk to the health of common citizens. The MCC has also suggested the use of butter paper in place of newspapers, which costs ₹20 per sheet, to pack food products.
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Along with newspapers, even cardboard boxes made with recycled paper has been suspected of having metallic contaminants, mineral oils and harmful chemicals such as phthalates which has been known to cause digestive issues. While spontaneous inspections around Mysuru found eight shopkeepers guilty of flouting the FSSAI ban, penalties of ₹2000- ₹15000 were imposed upon them. Authorities who conducted the inspection also warned of issuing fines of up to ₹1 lakh if regulations weren’t followed strictly.
