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Various types of melamine are easy to use, easy to break, and inexpensive. No matter whether it is a street stall or a small hot pot restaurant or even a high-class restaurant, many Taiwanese shops love to use melamine tableware. However, when melamine is exposed to heat, toxic substances may be released. The latest medical research confirms that the release of melamine from the melamine-resistant dish will be eaten through food, and the health risks of long-term use are worth paying attention to.
In 2008, the Chinese milk poisoning incident caused more than 50,000 infant nephropathy and sacrificed 6 small lives. Most people are not unfamiliar with the event's protagonist, melamine. A recent Taiwanese medical study published in an international journal showed that melamine can be detected in the urine of subjects immediately after eating melamine-coated noodle soup, and it can be metabolized to the lowest concentration within 12 hours. Experts pointed out that a bowl of melamine soup is not high in the release of toxic substances, but the use of melamine tableware for a long time may cause health risks, especially sensitive groups such as children and pregnant women. It is better not to use melamine utensils to hold hot food.
The study, recently published in the JAMA Internal Medicine, was published by the research team of Kaohsiung Medical University in Taiwan. Wu Mingcang, a medical team attending the research team and a senior doctor, said that in order to understand the stability of melamine tableware under high temperature, 12 volunteers aged about 20 were recruited into two groups, each with 3 men and 3 women. The group ate hot noodle soup served in a melamine dish, and the other group contained a noodle soup in a ceramic bowl. The urine of the subject was collected before and after consumption for 12 hours.
As a result, the melamine content in the urine immediately increased in the subjects who ate the glutinous hot noodle soup, reaching the highest level at the 6th hour and the lowest at the 12th hour. In the control group where the ceramic bowl was eaten, there was no change in the toxic content in the urine.
After three weeks, after waiting for the human body's metabolism, the two groups of subjects were exchanged. When the original ceramic bowl was changed to the melamine bowl, the urine sample also showed an increase in melamine. Switching to the ceramic bowl set will not change.
Wu Ming Cang said that using urine samples of melamine tableware to measure 8.35 micrograms of melamine was about 6 to 7 times more toxic than 1.31 micrograms of ceramic tableware. Although the amount of melamine is lower than the daily intake limit set by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), "This is why the volunteers can be tested by the Human Body Testing Committee." , But this experiment shows that the release of melamine in the melamine will eat through the food. It is quite common in Taiwan to hold hot foods in the Meitos, and there is no doubt that there is no long-term health risk.
The report also attracted international media reports after being published in the Journal of the American Medical Association's Department of Internal Medicine. Dr. Ken Spaeth, director of the Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine, North Shore Hospital, New York State, was visited by Time magazine Health Corner. It also said that this small experiment put forward questions that people thought deeply. The results showed that melamine can be entered into the human body through foods at a concentration higher than previously expected. "We do not have a chance to study the role of this polymer in the human body. Most of the information we know is derived from animal experiments. However, melamine is a toxic substance and should be treated more cautiously under public health considerations."
In order to protect the food safety of the public, the Taipei City Government Health Bureau has been following the “Sanitary Standards for Container Packaging for Food Devices” published by the Central Government since the year of 1998. A total of 104 samples have been tested and the test results meet the hygiene standards (melamine dissolution). Limited amount: less than 2.5 ppm). In order to discuss the hygienic safety of melamine tableware used in hot pot restaurants, in particular this year (105 years) in March planning project commissioned certification laboratory for hot pot restaurant cooking temperature and melamine dissolution test to investigate 5 hot pot restaurants Cooking temperature is 80.7~89.9°C, which is less than the recommended temperature limit of melamine tableware 110~130°C; sampling of 9 melamine tableware in use, including spoons, chopsticks, and spoons, 6 traces of melamine dissolved, inspection The outflows were "undetected" and "0.9-5.4 ppm," respectively. The results of re-evaluation according to Articles 17 and 48 of the Food Safety and Health Management Act are all in compliance. Referring to the website of the Food and Drug Administration of the Ministry of Health and Welfare and domestic and foreign literature, melamine poses specific risks to human health, except for the tainted milk powder deliberately added by mainland China in 1997 that caused specific harm to the human body. Some scholars pointed out that eating melamine After the hot soup was put on the tableware, the concentration of melamine in the urine increased significantly within 12 hours, but most of the melamine can be excreted with the metabolism of urine within 24-48 hours. Currently, the melamine is used for long-term use of melamine tableware to cause human health. The risk remains to be confirmed by more studies. The Taipei City Health Bureau has taken the initiative to provide the central government with a reference to future standards revisions and risk assessments. The Taipei Municipal Health Bureau stated that China has set clear specifications for melamine tableware, with a melamine release limit of 2.5 ppm or less. When the health standards are not qualified for initial pumping, the deadline for correction shall be corrected according to the law; if the re-abstraction still does not comply, the food safety will be violated. Article 17 and Article 48 of the Health Management Law stipulate that a fine of not less than TWD 30,000 but not more than 3 million should be imposed. With reference to Europe, the United States and Japan, countries in the world have set hygiene standards for melamine tableware and conducted food hygiene and safety monitoring according to the standard.
According to the expert meeting of the World Food Organization’s Food and Agriculture Organization, melamine is currently classified as Group 3, a substance that is not carcinogenic to humans, and its tolerable daily intake (TDI) is set at 0.2 mg/kg bw/ The United States FDA has set a value of 0.063 mg/kg bw/day and, after measuring the worst-case exposures, explicitly stated that it would be able to control the content of melamine and similar compounds in the product. Below 5 mg/kg, consumers do not have to panic and fear this small dose. The Health Department of the Taipei City Government urges hotpot operators to properly use, use less or not use melamine utensils. If melamine meals provided by consumers are damaged or scratched, they should be immediately replaced and replaced, and stainless steel clips are recommended. People try to avoid using melamine chopsticks. In addition, when reminding the public to cook hot pots, do not put melamine spoons in pots for a long time. It is recommended to use metal, ceramic or glass dishes to hold hot soup. In addition; should be clearly and completely marked to avoid the colorful melamine ware tableware, before using melamine tableware, you should first confirm the heat resistance temperature of the tableware and other material properties, in order to reduce the risk of melamine tableware dissolved toxic substances, provide people "Food is at ease" catering environment. If the public has food safety and health problems or consumer doubts, they can contact the Taipei public headline: 1999 (for the citizens of the county outside please call 02-27208889) to 7105.
The above inspection results can be accessed on the Food and Drug Consumer Knowledge Service website http://consumer.fda.gov.tw/ or the Health Bureau website http://health.gov.taipei/ for related information. This article reprints Taipei City's food registration platform
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