Packing food in newspapers can give you serious and harmful health issues like cancer!

 Using newspapers to wrap food can cause serious and harmful health issues. The ink used in newspapers contain hazardous chemicals that may affect the quality of food, increase the risk of digestive disorders, toxicity, cancer, weaken the immune system and may cause failure of vital organs

ET, Health : Street food vendors often use scrap newspaper for wrapping food because it is cheap. In fact, most of us also use newspaper at home to remove excess oil from deep-fried items. However, doing so can give you cancer!

Yes, you heard it right. Newspapers use a special ink that contains hazardous chemicals that could affect the quality of food and can cause serious health problems like digestive disorders, toxicity, cancer, failure of vital organs, and weakening of the immune system.

In fact, just recently, the Chhattisgarh government asked vendors and consumers to avoid using newspapers for packing food items. The state Food and Drug Administration (FDA) department official told PTI that if despite warnings, a vendor continues the practice, a complaint should be registered with the FDA.

This is not the first time, though, that such a warning has been issued.

In 2019, officials in Chennai prohibited the storage, distribution and sale of food items packaged in printed newspaper.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) had earlier also warned that the printing ink contains cancer-causing agents that can cause severe health issues. "Indians are slowly being poisoned due to newspaper being widely used as food packaging material by small hotels, vendors and also in homes in lieu of absorbent paper," FSSAI had said in a 2016 press statement.

"Foods contaminated by newspaper ink raise serious health concerns since the ink contains multiple bioactive materials with known negative health effects. Printing inks also contain harmful colours, pigments, binders, additives, and preservatives. Besides, chemical contaminants, presence of pathogenic microorganisms in used newspapers also pose potential risk to human health," FSSAI had warned.

As per FSSAI, newspapers and recycled papers may have mettalic contaminants like mineral oils and harmful chemicals like phthalates which can cause digestive problems and also lead to severe toxicity.

Circular issued by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India 

(A Statutory Authority established under the Food Safety & Standards Act, 2006) vide File No. 1/Stds/ Newspaper Packaging/ FSSAI-2016, dated, the 06th December, 2016

Subject: Restricting the use of newspaper as food packaging material

1. Use of newspapers for wrapping, packing and serving food is a common practice in India. However, this is a food safety hazard. 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. Indians are being slowly poisoned due to newspaper being widely used as food packaging material by small hotels, vendors and also in homes in lieu of absorbent paper.

2. Foods contaminated by newspaper ink raise serious health concerns since the ink contains multiple bioactive materials with known negative health effects. Printing inks may also contain harmful colors, pigments, binders, additives, and preservatives. Besides chemical contaminants, presence of pathogenic microorganisms in used newspapers also pose potential risk to human health.

3. Newspapers and even paper/ cardboard boxes made of recycled paper may be contaminated with metallic contaminants, mineral oils and harmful chemicals like phthalates which can cause digestive problems and also lead to severe toxicity. 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.

4. Newspapers should not be used to wrap, cover, and 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 the use. 

5. Commissioners of Food Safety of all States/UTs are requested to initiate a systematic campaign for generating awareness amongst all stakeholders to discourage the use of newspapers for packing, serving and storing of food items.