Scary! Vegetables tied with tape are toxic, with formaldehyde exceeding the standard by 10 times?

Expert of this article: Huang Shan, Deputy Director Pharmacist, Henan Food Inspection Institute

This article was reviewed by Liu Zhiyong, Professor of Henan Food Inspection Institute, Chief Science Expert of Henan Province

Many people are afraid of formaldehyde, and most of them know it from decoration, because formaldehyde is a good organic solvent, and it is cheap, and it is widely used in paints, boards and other decoration materials. Excessive formaldehyde inhalation will destroy the body's immunity, increase the risk of leukemia, and slowly damage your body, so it is very important to prevent formaldehyde from invading the human body.

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After finishing the decoration, many people will take measures such as long ventilation to remove the formaldehyde in the room as much as possible. There is another situation related to formaldehyde that scares many people. In the early years, there was a saying on the Internet that "the formaldehyde content of vegetables tied with tape exceeds the standard by 10 times". Eating vegetables tied with tape will cause poisoning and cancer.

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Are all vegetables tied with tape inedible? Is such tape really poisonous? Today we will tell you the answer.

Is the tape tied around vegetables poisonous?

The reason why people suspect that the tapes tied on vegetables in supermarkets are poisonous is mainly because they are worried that formaldehyde, the main component of tape adhesives, will harm the human body. In fact, in the Food Safety Law and related food safety standards, there are strict regulations on packaging materials that come into direct contact with food, including tapes. In other words, plastic films and adhesives that come into direct contact with food must comply with national standards. Therefore, there is no need to worry too much about the safety of excessive formaldehyde in tapes that meet production requirements.

Could long-term consumption of vegetables bundled like this cause cancer?

The connection between tape and formaldehyde is not high. According to national standards, the determination of formaldehyde content requires soaking in 4% acetic acid at 60°C for 2 hours. However, the area of ​​tape used on vegetables sold on the market is much smaller than 1 square decimeter, and the contact temperature is much lower than the 60°C during the experiment, and there is no acidic environment required by the experimental conditions. Test data from a third-party research institution shows that no formaldehyde has been detected in the vegetable samples.

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Similarly, it is unscientific to talk about safety without considering dosage. The US Environmental Protection Agency has proposed that it is safe for a person to ingest less than or equal to 0.2 mg of formaldehyde per kilogram of body weight per day. In other words, for an adult weighing 60 kg, as long as the amount of formaldehyde ingested per day does not exceed 12 mg, it will not have a substantial impact on the body.

Different from environmental decoration materials, the plastic film and adhesive of the tape used to bundle vegetables are relatively stable in the natural environment, and the formaldehyde content itself is low, so the possibility of releasing a large amount of formaldehyde during storage is relatively small. Therefore, it will basically not harm your health, and there is no need to worry too much.

Does food contain formaldehyde?

Some foods (aquatic products, milk, vegetables, fruits, etc.) naturally contain trace amounts of formaldehyde, and different foods have different mechanisms for producing formaldehyde. For example, fish contains a substance called "trimethylamine oxide," which decomposes to produce a small amount of formaldehyde under the action of biological enzymes or microorganisms. Some seafood, such as fresh squid, contains about 20 mg of formaldehyde per kilogram. Fruits and vegetables, under the influence of storage environment and storage time, will produce trace amounts of formaldehyde in the process of cell metabolism through respiration.

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In daily life, we can reduce the formaldehyde residue in food by understanding the physical and chemical properties of formaldehyde.

Formaldehyde is easily soluble in water. The formaldehyde present in food can be removed in part by rinsing or soaking in water. Secondly, formaldehyde is a volatile organic compound that easily evaporates at room temperature. If the food is steamed or fried for a long time, that is, after high-temperature treatment, the formaldehyde in the food can be completely removed.

Therefore, if there is a small amount of formaldehyde residue on vegetables, don't be too nervous. Because of these properties of formaldehyde, it is difficult for it to remain on the surface of vegetables. After washing and cooking the vegetables purchased from the supermarket, even if there is formaldehyde residue, it will be basically eliminated after heating.

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