Two Taipei City councilors yesterday lambasted fast-food giant McDonald’s Co for putting monetary gain before the safety of its customers and lashed out at the city government for being “soft” at enforcing its own rules following the discovery of the company’s continued use of the No. 6 plastic lid for its hot beverages instead of the No. 5 that the city has been promoting, while a company spokesperson reports a transition to the requested lids is under way.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilors Liang Wen-jie (梁文傑) and Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) yesterday called on the public to boycott McDonald’s coffee until it changed its lids in accordance with the city government’s promotions.
The numbers of the various lids are based on the resin identification code (RIC), developed by the Society of Plastics Industry in 1988 to identify the polymer types used to fabricate the products.
Photo: Hsieh Chia-chun, Taipei Times
Wu said the No. 6 plastic lid was made from polystyrene, a substance that the RIC states is tolerant to heat from 70?C to 90?C, and may deform over time to release minor levels of styrene which can migrate into foods.
Styrene, once absorbed and metabolized by the human body, is transformed into styrene oxide, which is considered toxic, mutagenic and possibly carcinogenic, as reported by the US National Toxiclogy Program in 2011.
The city government has proposed substituting the No. 6 lids for the No. 5 lids, which have better heat — up to 100?C to 140?C — structural and chemical tolerance, Wu said, adding that they are made primarily from polypropylene.
The city government’s poll last year on 18 chain stores found 14 using the No. 6 lids and requested that they switch to No. 5 lids, Wu said, adding that this year’s survey found McDonald’s to be the only company still using No. 6 lids.
Wang Ming-li (王明理), a specialist with the city’s Department of Health division of drugs and food safety said last year’s tests showed the No. 6 lids McDonald’s used had not shown signs of deformation at 90?C and should not be releasing styrene into the coffee.
In response to the allegations the company did not care for its customers’ health, McDonald’s public relations department associate general manager Chou Yi-ning (周怡寧) said that international safety inspections for both No. 5 and No. 6 cups have turned up no red flags, and McDonald’s coffee is served at about 80?C.
“We have however taken into account the expectations of the public, and every store in the chain started testing the No. 5 lid at the end of last year,” Chou said, adding the MyCafe drink and dessert counters have already adopted the No. 5 lids.
“All 423 branches of McDonald’s in Taiwan are expected to make the switch to No. 5 lids by June,” she added.
Meanwhile, Liang said the amended clauses of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法) said that plastic containers should be labeled with the product’s name, alongside its heat tolerance, net weight, volume and quantity, as well as its manufacturer, original location and date of manufacture and warnings for use.
Violators of the act could be fined from NT$30,000 to NT$3 million (US$990 to US$99,050), Liang said.
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