CLING FILM: A CLEAR CASE OF CONFUSION
(Adapted by the Antigua and Barbuda Bureau of Standards from Which? Magazine - May 1992)
More than 150 million tonnes of plastic, paper, metal and glass are used each year to package our food. The tubs, tubes, cans and cartons made from these raw materials not only increase the range of food available to us but also protect it against contamination. Yet the packaging itself can sometimes prove to be a source of contamination.
In 1986, tests by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF - United Kingdom), showed that cling film 'leaked' into food when it was used to wrap food during microwave cooking. MAFF stressed that this posed no health risk but still advised that cling film should not come into contact with food during microwave cooking. As a result, manufacturers developed 'low migration' films from which fewer constituents leaked out.
In November 1990, the Government (UK) published further research showing that chemicals from all cling films, including the low migration ones, leaked into wrapped foods, particularly fatty foods, even when cold.
CLING FILM DO'S AND DON'TS:
DO.....
- use for wrapping any non-fatty foods such as fruit, vegetables and salad (except avocados, which are oily, and vegetables in oily dressings). Use it for white fish and shellfish, or foods which are nor very fatty on the surface such as biscuits and cakes without cream or butter cream coatings and sandwiches without fatty fillings which may ooze out;
- use to cover dishes or storage vessels (as long as the film doesn't touch fatty food). Alternatively, cover with a plate;
- use to cover dishes when cooking or reheating in a microwave oven as long as there is no contact between the film and the food. Check during cooking that the film doesn't sag on to the food.
DON'T......
- use for wrapping any non-fatty foods like cheese, butter, cooked meats (like ham), raw meats with alot of fat on the surface, oily fish (like mackerel or herrings), pastries and croissants, buscuits or cakes with chocolate or cream coatings, sandwiches with fatty fillings like mayonnaise which might ooze into contact with the film. Instead of wrapping these foods, use dishes covered with cling film where the film won't touch the food or else use sealable plastic and glass.
- use in a microwave oven with the film touching food;
- use in conventional ovens (i.e gas or electric ovens), infra-red or combination microwave/electric ovens;
- buy fatty foods that are pre-wrapped in any sort of clinging, plastic film.
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