Hot Food In Plastic Bags

[ThaisGood]

Hi. I know most people eat food in plastic bags so it's generally safe but are there any known longterm effects of repeatedly eating hot food cooked in oil that's then placed in plastic? My travel to Thailand is limited to once every few years, and I love the food, and don't get too concerned because my visits are short. However I recall a Thai friend, perhaps he is just worried about everything and it's nothing to be concerned about, but he said that the shift toward eating a food from a plastic bag is relatively new in Thai society and that the bags are going to cause a lot of health problems in the future notably cancers. I wonder if the plastic bags used by vendors, especially the ones who fry food in a hot wok then immediately put in into a bag, are made of a certain food-grade material that's considered safe? Are there any known studies of this? Thanks for any insight.

[Tim207]

Hi. I know most people eat food in plastic bags so it's generally safe but are there any known longterm effects of repeatedly eating hot food cooked in oil that's then placed in plastic? My travel to Thailand is limited to once every few years, and I love the food, and don't get too concerned because my visits are short. However I recall a Thai friend, perhaps he is just worried about everything and it's nothing to be concerned about, but he said that the shift toward eating a food from a plastic bag is relatively new in Thai society and that the bags are going to cause a lot of health problems in the future notably cancers. I wonder if the plastic bags used by vendors, especially the ones who fry food in a hot wok then immediately put in into a bag, are made of a certain food-grade material that's considered safe? Are there any known studies of this? Thanks for any insight.

To put your friend's concerns about plastic bags causing cancer into perspective, my mother-in-law doesn't want me to reuse plastic coke bottles to chill drinking water in the fridge because it causes cancer. Reusing plastic water bottles to do this is ok though.

Using plastic bags for hot food may or may not be found to increase the risk of cancer in the future but just because a local thinks it does, with no evidence, is no reason to start worrying. Thailand is rife with myth and superstition, some based in truth but much is complete bull that is taken as fact because someone with a higher status said so. Critical thinking is not highly regarded in Thailand so you will need to use your own more than usual to sort the wheat from the chaff (or the rice from the hull as it were).

[blue eyes]

As far back as 1968 I remember having food in plastic bags.So I do not think it is a new thing.As to the cancer thing who knows.

[jdinasia]

ummmm dam_n that blows the whole concept of using microwaves to heat food in plastic (bags or other containers)

Most if not all plastics are inert

[madjbs]

Most plastic plates and bowls won't survive a microwave.

[AmeriThai]

I don't see any problem with food in plastic bags. It's not like food is in it for long periods of time. In the case of hot foods, long enough to get home with it and pour it out into dishware.

[realthaideal]

I eat everything imaginable off the food carts and take food home daily in bags, but there is a growing murmur that plastics and food don't mix. I keep an eye out for anything related to this topic. For now I hope moderation and never heating it in a bag or plastic will help keep me safe. Someday there may be a stable, proven plastic out there for us. Until then, we have to keep up on news bits like these :http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/10/31/bpa.hearings/

[AmeriThai]

I eat everything imaginable off the food carts and take food home daily in bags, but there is a growing murmur that plastics and food don't mix. I keep an eye out for anything related to this topic. For now I hope moderation and never heating it in a bag or plastic will help keep me safe. Someday there may be a stable, proven plastic out there for us. Until then, we have to keep up on news bits like these :http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/10/31/bpa.hearings/

We pour ours into bowls as soon as we get them home and toss the plastic bags in the trash. If the food needs reheating we pop the bowls into the microwave. But since it's not too far for us, the food is still usually hot. Also when we buy the food, we get it freshly poured into the bags. We don't get any that's already been bagged and sitting ready out to buy.

[cathyy]

The issue doesn't seem to be the temperature of the food, but whether it has been microwaved in that plastic bag. Microwaves do cause some carcinogens to leach out of plastic and into food. Heat doesn't. It must be actual contact between the food and the plastic, too, so putting a paper towel between your hot dog and your plastic plate as you nuke it is sufficient. Just carrying it home in a plastic bag is not a health issue.

Now, the sneaky way they often wrap hot dogs and sausages in plastic and clip the ends to make them invisible is a particular health hazard if you don't notice the plastic layer.

[torrenova]

Do people really worry about things like this ?

Flying here once must raise your risk of cancer 1000 times more than eating out of plastic bags every day for 50 years. Seriously though, life really is too short !

[blondiewonder]

hi

i have long been interested in what we are eating in modern times, everthing form intense farming methods to wrapping food in plastic. you only have to do a google search 'keeping food in plastic the risks' and you get over 358,000 links. for the 1st 30 odd pages (all i had time for) they were all concerns about the long term affects, which obviously haven't been concluded yet, but as plastic food wrapping has been around since the 1960's it probably won't be long before the F.D.A and other bodies are discovering what we have long since been concerned with. 1 body, 1 life, what harm would it to to minimise our use of plastics and help the enviroment into the bargain? who can argue against this?

regards

emma

[Datsun240Z]

Do understand that plastic is made from oil

[blondiewonder]

Do understand that plastic is made from oil

yes, as if that wasn't bad enough for the long term sustainability and welfare of the planet, they also contain thousands of other chemicals and compounds that are no good for us and are known to be carcenogenic. educate yourself before posting next time.

[sceadugenga]

This plastic containers cause cancer stuff has being going around for a while; I got an email the other day about it.

Any Google search shows it's just not true.

Example:

Email Hoax Regarding Freezing Water Bottles and Microwave Cooking

The Internet is flooded with messages warning against freezing water in plastic bottles or cooking with plastics in the microwave oven. These messages, frequently titled “Johns Hopkins Cancer News” or “Johns Hopkins Cancer Update,” are falsely attributed to Johns Hopkins and we do not endorse their content.

Freezing water does not cause the release of chemicals from plastic bottles.

In general, it is best to follow the manufacturer’s recommendations when using any plastic products. When cooking with plastics, only use those plastic containers, wraps, bags and utensils for their intended purposes.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) has some helpful guidelines for cooking with plastics in microwave ovens.

Edited January 5, 2009 by sceadugenga

[davyboy]

I don't see any problem with food in plastic bags. It's not like food is in it for long periods of time. In the case of hot foods, long enough to get home with it and pour it out into dishware.

Yes I agree, that's what we do, and if it needs re-heating, then microwave in the dish!

[Uros]

OT and IMHO: The microwave oven is the most useless piece of equipment in the home kitchen, unless one uses it to prepare dishes manufactured specifically for that purpose, like prefab frozen dinners and microwave popcorn. A pan on a stove, a toaster or convection oven is usually fast enough for reheating. And for things like popcorn, using a good quality heavy pan with oil and butter, then sprinkle with salt, cheese or whatever makes far superior popcorn without the 1,347 other ingredients found in microwave popcorn. Just read the label on that microwave popcorn sometime.