Do you often eat foods wrapped in aluminum foils and paper? Have you used newspaper to soak oil from the fried foods you cook at your home? Well, you might be putting yourselves at a greater health risk than you probably know. Here’s how it destroys your health interfering with digestion and reproduction.

Newspapers are printed all over with ink that is dissolved in it with the help of chemical solvents. Even paper/cardboard boxes made of recycled paper may be contaminated with harmful chemicals like phthalate which can cause digestive problems and also lead to severe toxicity.

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Harmful Chemicals:

“Wrapping food in newspapers is an unhealthy practice, and the consumption of such food is injurious to health, even if the food has been cooked hygienically,” the Food, Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) said in an advisory.

“Printing inks may also contain harmful colors, pigments, binders, additives, and preservatives. Besides chemical contaminants, the presence of pathogenic microorganisms in used newspapers also poses a potential risk to human health,” the advisory said.

The advisory warned: “Older people, teenagers, children and people with compromised vital organs and immune systems are at a greater risk of acquiring cancer-related health complications if they are exposed to food packed in such material.”

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Speaking in this regard, Health Minister  J.P Nadda said: “It has been observed that vendors have been using newspapers in packing and serving food, which is harmful. I urge the public to dissuade the vendors from doing so.”

The advisory calls for an urgent need to discourage the use of newspaper being widely used as food packaging. “Newspapers should not be used to wrap, cover, serve food or to absorb excess oil from fried food. There is an urgent need to discourage the use of newspaper as food packaging material by creating awareness among businesses especially unorganized food business operators and consumers on its harmful effects. Suitable steps need to be taken to restrict and control its use,” added the advisory.

FSSAI has asked its commissioners of food safety of all states to initiate a systematic campaign for generating awareness to discourage the use of newspaper for packaging, serving and storing of food items.

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