With the school season about to start, families should be careful when purchasing plastic lunch boxes and water bottles for their children after a recent survey showed several failed heat tests, the Consumers’ Foundation said yesterday.
The consumer rights watchdog said three of the 18 items it tested became distorted after being subjected to high temperatures.
In May the foundation purchased 10 types of plastic lunch boxes and eight types of plastic water bottles from retail chains, department stores and furniture stores nationwide. Of the tested samples, one type of lunch box and two types of water bottles that claimed to be heat-resistant did not pass standards tests.
PHOTO: LIN CHENG-KUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
DISTORTED
A lunch box labeled as safe for use at temperatures from minus 20ºC to 120ºC became distorted at temperatures within the indicated safe range, foundation chairman Hsieh Tien-jen (謝天仁) said.
The two types of water bottles softened after inspectors poured boiling water into them and allowed the water to sit for 10 minutes.
The foundation said it was unacceptable for products claiming to be heat resistant to change shape or soften despite being used in accordance with instructions labels.
It remained to be determined whether the affected products were harmful to consumers.
“Though we are still awaiting lab results on whether chemicals were released [when the products became distorted], the fact that the products changed shape means they failed the test,” Hsieh said.
Nine of the 18 products tested also failed to provide information on the temperature range they could be used in or did not have instructions in Chinese.
REMOVED
The foundation said it had reported its findings to the Department of Health and urged it to order the products be taken off the shelves.
The group also advised parents not to put steaming-hot food into plastic lunch boxes and to limit the use of microwaves to heat lunch boxes since it could lead to the release of harmful chemicals.
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