Chopstix maybe dangerous to our health

[CZintrclr]

This is a true case, if you don't believe try the
> following test:
> >
> > Soak a pair of disposable chopsticks (usually
> given to you when you buy
> pack food from a Chinese take-away)for between 3 to
> 5 minutes inside hot
> boiling water. Within minutes and right infront of
> your eyes, you will noticed
> that some white colouring matter seems to be
> dissolved into the hot water from
> the chopsticks.
> >
> > What is released from the chopsticks is actually
> a chemical, a bleaching agent.
> >
> > In a campaign promoting healthy care in Singapore
> recently, Professor
> Jackson Mathis reminds people not to use disposable
> chopsticks, as almost the
> majority of them are made in or imported from China
> . He explained that during
> the manufacturing process of disposable chop-sticks
> before the actual
> production itself, all raw materials are already
> cover-grown with germs that
> make the wood materials look like they are coated in
> multiple colours or are
> covered with poisonous fungus. The first process
> itself is already frightening
> as the manufacturer starts the process by soaking up
> the wooden raw materials
> inside a very big container that is filled with a
> very toxic and highly
> poisonous chemical. This chemical is intentionally
> added in in order to
> preserve the materials. After a few days of soaking,
> they are then washed with
> an even worse cleaning agent, in this case it is a
> bleaching agent (which
> chemical ph level is believe to be more than a
> thousand times over the general
> > permissible/acceptable international standards).
> >
> > And guess what? These chemicals itself is likely
> to cause greater harm to
> our health (if we continue consuming such chemicals
> into our body on a daily
> basis) not forgetting that since these chemicals
> used are usually carcinogenic
> in nature, they are likely to cause cancer.
> >
> > Since his last visit to a disposable chopsticks
> manufacturing plant in
> China 5 years ago, Professor Jackson Mathis has
> immediately stop using such
> disposable chopsticks anymore. In Professor Jackson
> case, just in case if he
> ever forgets to bring along his own pair of
> chopsticks for lunch or dinner, he
> usually make sure that he do not forget to put one
> pair of it inside his bag
> since it can be re-used again and again.
> >
> > Professor Jackson Mathis said: "If you have been
> using disposable
> chopsticks in the past, and you insist on continue
> using them again, please
> pause and think for a moment - Why is cancer
> spreading like wild fire these
> days throughout the world affecting all sorts of
> people? After that, think of
> how many pairs of disposable chopsticks a factory in
> China is producing by the
> minute...

[mazdamazda]

Hmmm... hoax or not I'd be bringing my own chopsticks from now on!

[kiper]

Hoax na naman?? Read this!

Taken from www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/chopsticks.asp

[SIZE=5]Chopsticks[/SIZE]
Claim: Disposable chopsticks are loaded with carcinogens.
Status: [SIZE=6]False.[/SIZE]

Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2005]

This is a real case, if happen you had a chance, you can try soak disposable chopsticks (usually they gave you when you take away something) for 3 to 5 minutes in hot water, and you will see bleach detergent dissolved in the hot water from the chopsticks.

If you can prepare yours own chopsticks at your office, it's not only environmental friendly and it's for your own good.

In a campaign promoting healthy care in An Ning, professor Chew reminds people not to use disposable chopsticks, as almost majority of them are made in and imported from china. Before the production, the raw materials itself already grown with germs that are in multiply colors (fungus), and the first process was put in chemical to preserve the materials then after that they are washed with bleach (which believes are to be thousands times over the standards). And guess what? These chemicals could cause cancer, Carcinogen. Professor Chew didn't use any disposable chopsticks anymore since she last visited a disposable chopsticks manufacturing plant 5 years ago. In case she forgotten to bring her own chopsticks, she always put one in her bag, since it can be reuse again and again.

Professor chew said: if you were using disposable chopsticks in the past, and you insists going to use them for rest of your life. Don't come and ask me why you have cancer.

[SIZE=2]Origins: A Chopsticks warning that chemicals or bleaches used in the manufacture of disposable chopsticks posing health hazards first appeared online in January 2005 on a variety of Chinese-language bulletin boards, and by March 2005 the English-language version quoted above began making its way into inboxes everywhere. (The English version cannot properly be termed a translation of those bulletin boards posts in that it is a rewriting of the information they presented rather than a copy of any one of them, or at least not a copy of any post we've so far located. The "Professor Chew" of the e-mailed alert, for instance was not present in the source article.)

Those bulletin board posts were based on a then year-old China Post article cautioning shoppers that a number of ingestibles being sold in stores had been found to contain excessive remnants of preservatives, bleachers, or coloring agents after food inspections had been increased ahead of the expected boom in the sale of edibles for the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year. Those inspections resulted in the Bureau of Health under the Taipei City Government discerning that 39 of the 165 food items it examined failed to meet government standards, with many of those delinquent products supplied by well-established
manufacturers.

Within that news article about non-compliant foodstuffs, in a section about preservative chemicals and dried daylily ("golden needle"), passing mention was made of sulfur dioxide's often being found on disposable wooden or bamboo chopsticks. No details were given regarding how much of this compound was routinely discovered on these utensils or how often such discoveries were made. Sulfur dioxide (SO2), a colorless, water-soluble chemical used for bleaching and preserving foods, fruits, and vegetables, can lead to asthmatic attacks in asthmatics and can cause rashes and abdominal upset in those sensitive to this additive.

While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does restrict sulfites such as sulfur dioxide in fresh foods to ten parts per million (10 ppm), it does not impose a limit on how much may be present in canned, dried, or preserved foods, instead requiring those ingestibles to bear a sulfite label declaration. While the triggering of asthma attacks, skin rashes, and abdominal upset are recognized by the FDA as symptoms linked to sulfites, that federal regulatory agency is wholly silent on the topic of sulfur dioxide's being a cancer-causing agent. It is fair, therefore, to conclude that Professor Chew's "Don't come and ask me why you have cancer" is baseless scaremongering.

The FDA estimates that one out of a hundred people is sulfite-sensitive, and that five percent of those who have asthma are at risk of sulfites triggering a breathing problem for them. While adverse reactions among those who are sulfite-sensitive can be severe, even life-threatening, almost all of the population (99 percent of non-asthmatics and 95 percent of asthmatics) are unharmed by ingested sulfites, including sulfur dioxide. Sulfites are not the lurking threat to all and sundry the e-mailed warning makes them out to be, nor do they cause cancer.

Those still worried about potential harm from the sulfur dioxide that might be on the disposable chopsticks they are about to use could follow the advice given for leaching it from dried daylily. China's Department of Health says 70% of the sulfur dioxide used as a preservative for that product can be eliminated from it by soaking the foodstuff in cold water for 60 minutes or in warm water for 20 minutes, and that as much as 90% of the chemical could be eliminated by boiling dried daylily for 20 minutes.

Consumers concerned about the environment might choose to follow the e-mail's advice to foreswear disposable chopsticks altogether. In 1984 in Japan alone an estimated 12 billion pairs a year were being used and discarded, and in 2001 in China, 45 billion pairs were being sent to their ancestors.

Barbara "don't waribashi, be happy"

Last updated: 30 December 2005 [/SIZE]




Eto totoo na to..

05/15/2006 01:49 AM
Japan Worried Over Disposable Chopsticks Shortage

The Japanese consume a whopping 25 billion sets of Chinese wooden chopsticks per year, so it's understandable that they are concerned about a possible shortage. China has imposed a 5 percent tax on the chopsticks due to worries of deforestation.


Chinese chopstick exporters have slapped a 30 percent rise on prices of chopsticks exports to Japan due to the tax and other increased expenses. Another 20% hike is expected. Japanese restaurants are scrambling to find alternative sources.


"We're not in an emergency situation yet, but there has been some impact," Ichiro Fukuoka, director of Japan Chopsticks Import Association said. Environmentalists say that the chopsticks are linked to deforestation and a wasteful lifestyle.

Saka nakakatamad magbaon ng chopstix sa resto!

[theveed]

Let me put it this way....

What ethnic group populates this Earth the most? hehe...

Kiper: Most people are using chopsticks incorrectly kasi dito hehe... You don't try to pick up rice, you arrange it in a way where you can shove it into your mouth cleanly... Mga non-chopstick users like to make things harder kasi hehe.

[CVT]

theveed :

Good points.

Agree on the chopsticks/rice thing. Puts a broad smile on my face. Verdict on myself,- GUILTY! hehehe

[baiskee]

kakainis pa pag may nakikita akong ginagawang pantusok sa ulam pag di kayang kunin...

wag na kasi gumamit pag di kayang gamitin. nagmumukha lang t*nga.

[ILuvDetailing]

kakainis pa pag may nakikita akong ginagawang pantusok sa ulam pag di kayang kunin...

Guilty ako diyan sa shabu-shabu, pag kukunin ko yung corn tinutusok ko na lang

[baiskee]

nak ng tokwa...isa ka pa.

[baiskee]

chop stick etiquette:
- do not spear food with chop sticks
- never use a single chop stick to eat
- do not use two hands when using chop sticks
- never rest the chop sticks in or across the bowl.

[empy]

i have known chopsticks were dangerous to your health since i was 12. i accidentally poked myself in the eye with one

chop stick etiquette:
- never rest the chop sticks in or across the bowl.

aba, ngayon ko lang nalaman to ah. good to know.