Everyday Systems

Just spotted this in the news today - recycled cardboard used to package food is contaminating the food - right through the inner wrapper! Another reason to either avoid or restrict packaged food.
Details here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12663183

What next ?

Great. I guess it's true what they say... EVERYTHING can give you cancer. :-/

So how do we know whether a product is packaged in recycled cardboard or not?

I do think it is a legitimate concern that cardboard made from recycled printed cardboard can contain higher amounts of mineral oil than cardboard made from 'virgin' pulp.

HOWEVER- from my experience in the pulp and paper (containerboard AKA cardboard) industry, printed cardboard is not often recycled. It is far easier and cheaper to recycle cardboard that has not made it to consumer-level (been printed/glued/etc). The process of re-hydra-pulping this cardboard to acceptable grades (purity/color/texture) requires more chemicals and more mechanical work, making it more expensive than the alternatives (recycling pre-consumer cardboard, or even virgin pulp).

I guess I take a 'moderate' view of claims like this. Nothing is as extreme as the media likes to make it out to be.

sarah.grace wrote:I do think it is a legitimate concern that cardboard made from recycled printed cardboard can contain higher amounts of mineral oil than cardboard made from 'virgin' pulp.

HOWEVER- from my experience in the pulp and paper (containerboard AKA cardboard) industry, printed cardboard is not often recycled.

Just to clarify - the article states cardboard is being made with recycled newspapers, not recycled cardboard. It is based on European research and the picture may be different in the US - it presumably depends on economic issues, are the incentives to use recycled material to make cardboard as great in the US, or are the raw materials for virgin board cheaper? I don't know. I can say that the BBC isn't known for alarmist treatment of issues, I just thought I'd like my No S friends to have the information to take whatever precautions they might think sensible. Long term storage of foods in cardboard containers might not be too smart.

I wasn't trying to be contradictory or discredit the article- just sharing my thoughts!

So I was thinking about this some more- trying to think of what food I eat that does stay in cardboard packaging long-term. The only thing I came up with is a box of cereal. I guess it would be easy to take the cereal bag out of the box, and throw out the box. Better safe than sorry?
What other foods am I forgetting?

Oh, what about baking soda?