Pizza may contain other dangerous substances - "black day for consumers"
Created: 12/20/2022 10:59 am
By: Karolin Stevelmans
New rules for food packaging should actually provide better protection for consumers.
However, the Federal Council is against it.
Dortmund – Ingredients in food that are harmful to health regularly lead to product recalls.
Among other things, they get into the food via packaging.
In order to prevent this across the board, the Minister of Food, Cem Özdemir (Greens), has initiated a tightening of the rules for packaging.
However, the Federal Council opposes this plan.
Pizza may contain other dangerous substances - "black day for consumers"
Often the reasons for warnings are certain ingredients that can be harmful to health.
In addition to production errors, they can also get into the food via the food packaging.
Specifically, it is about so-called traces of mineral oil in food, which are considered carcinogenic.
Products such as pizza, sweets, butter or muesli are particularly affected.
Pizza, butter and candy packaging comes from old newspapers
In order to prevent the carcinogenic substances from migrating into the food, a barrier layer should be prescribed for packaging made from waste paper.
The Ministry of Food initiated this tightening of the rules.
Because packs made of waste paper usually consist of old newspapers or advertising sheets.
The mineral oils contained come from the printing inks in the magazines.
Mineral oil residues still in food: Federal Council rejects stricter regulations
However, the Federal Council has now rejected these regulations.
The Chamber of States is in favor of maintaining the current guidelines.
The Ministry of Food speaks of a "black day for consumers" (more about supermarkets and discounters at RUHR24).
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The stricter regulations should contribute to improved health protection, reports RUHR24.
The fact that carcinogenic substances get into food through the packaging is nothing new.
The ministry criticizes that the problem is now being delayed and shifted to the decision-making level of the EU.
Consumer advocates warn of mineral oil residues in food.
© Niehoff/YAY Images/Imago;
Collage: RUHR24
As the
DPA
reports, the EU will not adopt any guidelines of this kind in the near future.
For this reason, national regulations are unavoidable.
It remains to be seen whether the Federal Council will still vote for stricter packaging guidelines.
Carcinogenic substances in food: What consumers can look out for when shopping
If you want to avoid foods that contain mineral oil residues, you should follow a few tips.
The carcinogenic substances are usually found in products that are particularly fatty, such as oils or spreads.
At the beginning of the year, Foodwatch called for recalls for products such as Knorr broth and Nutella.
Traces of mineral oil in food can hardly be ruled out entirely.
However, regular product tests by Öko-Test at least give an overview of the mineral oil content in the products.
Öko-Test recently reported that 17 out of 20 types of butter tested contained traces of mineral oil.
