Vietnam testing food wraps for harmful DEHA TUOITRENEWS A woman is using plastic film to wrap a plate of food.uoi Tre Vietnamese concerned agencies have taken samples of food wraps on the market to test for poisonous plasticizer diethylhydroxylamine (DEHA) that can impair male sexual ability and cause early puberty in women. Tran Quang Trung, head of the Health Ministry’s Food Safety and Hygiene Department (FSHD), said the agency has directed the National Institute of Food Control and the HCMC Hygiene and Public Health Institute to take samples of plastic films used to wrap food in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, mainly targeting those of Chinese origin. The tests should be aimed at detecting DEHA and other harmful substances such as caprolactam, diphenyl carbonate, bis-phenol A, styrene, toluene, ethylbenzene, cadmium, arsenic and lead. The results of the tests must be reported to the Department before August 10, 2013. Such testing was ordered after the China Central Television (CCTV) in late July warned that plastic film used by supermarkets to wrap meat and vegetables may contain banned toxic plasticizers that could impair male sexual function and lead to premature sexual development in females. According to CCTV, samples of polyvinyl chloride plastic wraps bearing 15 out of 16 brands sent for tests were found to contain DEHA, some at an alarming level. These plastic films were from produce bought in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, but CCTV did not reveal the names of the supermarkets or brands involved. DEHA was present in the samples of food wraps at levels up to 23.6 percent, and hence, far above the detection threshold of 0.05 percent, according to CCTV. Specifically, DEHA contents in these samples were found from 98 to 472 times higher than the acceptable level, and on average those contents were 200 times higher than the threshold. DEHA could lead to the disorder of endocrine system, impair male sexual function and cause female sexual precocity, and pose big risks to the genital development of infants, Shanghai Daily quoted Dong Jinshi, vice president of the International Food Packaging Association, as saying. The banned substance can leak out and penetrate into food more easily when the plastic wrap is used for foods with a high level of fat, Dong said. Lam Quoc Hung, head of the FSHD’s Food Poisoning Supervision Division, said food wraps in Vietnam are imported from many countries, including China, Japan, the US, Australia and Thailand. Food wraps are mainly made from PE or PVC, and those made from the former is safer than the latter, Hung said. Consumers can easily differentiate between them, since wraps made from PVC is usually in ivory white or light yellow while those made from PE is transparent white. In addition, when burnt, PE wraps do not produce odor or produce a slight odor, while PVC wraps give out pungent smell.