Bamboo is a vegetable often called “the plant of a thousand uses”, because different peoples have used it to obtain from it everything from clothing and food to construction material, cellulose for paper and medicines.
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Given the natural character of bamboo – a plant that is often associated with the forests of China but is naturally present on all continents except Europe and Antarctica – many of the products made from this material are marketed with terms such as “biodegradable”, “ecofriendly” and other similar advertising claims.
Recently, however, authorities have been drawing attention to a specific type of product containing bamboo. And they have launched campaigns to prevent its use, as it represents a health risk.
These are kitchen utensils made from a mixture of plastic and bamboo. Something that may sound strange: if plastic utensils have been incorporated and accepted in our culture for a long time, and if bamboo is a natural product, what would be the problem with a mixture of both?
Risks of mixing plastic and plant fibres
The risk lies precisely in the mixture. There are no safety objections to the use of utensils made of 100% plastic, nor when using other materials approved for food contact, such as metal, wood, ceramics, glass, silicone, paper, cork or textiles. The disadvantages arise when plastic is mixed with other substances.
As the Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU) explains, it has been detected that, during When using these utensils, certain substances used in their manufacture (such as formaldehyde and melamine) may migrate into the food in quantities greater than those accepted as safe.
At the end of 2019, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published a paper in response to a question: whether the authorisation for the use of “untreated wood fibres and dusts” in the manufacture of food contact materials could remain in force.
The report – requested by the European Commission – said no: that authorisation had to be reviewed. The reason is that, among the materials allowed in the manufacture of plastic for these products (according to the official list, created in 2011 and, based on this research, updated last year), bamboo is not included.
According to the OCU, the European Union reported in recent years fifty alerts related to the migration of melanin and formaldehyde, substances toxic to health, of plastic utensils with bamboo to food with which they had been in contact.
Bamboo and misleading advertising
Many of these products also resort to misleading advertising on their packaging, with expressions such as the aforementioned “biodegradable” and “ecofriendly” or others such as “recyclable” or “compostable”, as well as alluding to bamboo as a “symbol” of naturalness.
The truth is that, beyond the fact that it includes bamboo, it is plastic. Worse still, explains the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN): by including a vegetable additive, it is a non-recyclable polymer, and therefore is even less environmentally friendly than normal plastic.
As it is not included in the official regulatory list, bamboo plastic products are not allowed to be marketed in Europe. However, such items are on sale in many shops.
Often they are also purchased on the internet and come from outside the European Union, so that controls to prevent their entry become very difficult or even impossible.
As a result of all this situation, the AESAN has launched -in July- “a specific coordinated plan of official control on plastics intended to come into contact with food made with bamboo powder”.
This action, AESAN points out, is initiated “after identifying an increasing number of notifications in the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) for this type of products”, about the unauthorized use of bamboo additive as filler and the “incorrect labeling of products falsely declared as made from 100% bamboo”.
The main objectives of the initiative are both to stop the importation of these products and to identify those that are already on sale (in physical stores or on the internet) in order to proceed to their withdrawal, as well as to inform manufacturers, traders and consumers of the risks of these products.
It is important to note, by the way, that bamboo powder is not the only vegetable additive not allowed in the manufacture of plastic for these utensils. Nor are others that are also used, although less frequently than bamboo, such as powders or fibers derived from corn, wheat straw, coffee and soy protein.
What to do if you find one of these utensils
What to do if you find one of these utensils – plates, cutlery, cups, containers, etc. – made of plastic with bamboo or other non-permitted vegetables? If they are on sale, the appropriate thing to do is not to buy them and to notify the Ministry of Health, Consumption and Social Welfare. And if they are already at home, dispose of them safely.
Otherwise, it is worth remembering that kitchen utensils made from approved materials are safe to use, whether they are natural (such as 100% bamboo products) or synthetic, including silicone, printing inks, waxes, varnishes and coatings. If possible, it’s good to prioritise trusted brands.
You should also pay close attention to advertising claims about sustainability. Not only to protect yourself from lies, such as when a product claims to be made of “100% bamboo” when it is not, but also from more sophisticated deceptions (or half-truths).
One example is that of the so-called bioplastics: materials that often are presented as a healthier alternative for the planet. In reality, they are not very environmentally friendly, because – although they are biodegradable – they need a long time or very specific conditions to be disposed of in nature.
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