The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine told a press conference yesterday that PVC food wrappers containing DEHA (di [z-ethylhexyl] adipate), currently used in some supermarkets, have been banned nationwide due to unspecified health concerns.

DEHA is a plasticizer used to make PVC wrappers more pliable and was not among a list of 65 kinds of plasticizer banned two years ago.

The administration advised consumers to buy plastic food wrappers made of polyethylene, which it said was safe, or PVC wrappers that contain no DEHA.

Liu Zhaobin, spokesperson for the administration, said DEHA could harm human health when it is used to pack fatty food or heated in a microwave.

The administration said it would strengthen inspection of the plastic food wrapper industry, and manufacturers using DEHA in PVC wrappers would be severely penalized.

Ji Zhengkun, director of the administration's department of quality inspection, said "producers found using DEHA in food wrappers will be closed down immediately and ordered to recall all their products."

The administration said it would ban the import and export of PVC wrappers that fail to meet the new standard, and Ji said PVC food wrappers would “soon” be added to the Customs mandatory inspection list.

Supermarkets and shops were instructed to withdraw all plastic food wrappers without labels indicating the material they are made of; and whether they are safe for microwave use.

Ji advised consumers to check labels carefully before buying food wrappers, and that PVC wrappers, even without DEHA, should not use it to wrap meat, cooked or fatty food, or in microwave ovens.

Of 44 brands of Chinese PVC food wrappers surveyed by the administration, it said “almost all” met safety standards.

There are 47 producers of plastic food wrappers on the mainland, of which six use PVC. The domestic market accounts for 90 percent of their products while the remaining 10 percent are exported.

(China Daily October 26, 2005)