View: Stop plastic use in canteens

Tuesday July 21, 2009

AS part of my ongoing outreach activity on anti-smoking and environmental education to school children, I often visit schools, not just in Sabah but also in Kelantan and Pahang where I formerly worked.

From my observation on the food serving practices in the school canteen, I notice with concern that in a number of schools, food and drinks are supplied in polystyrene containers and plastic bags. Besides drinks, even hot soup like noodle soup is served in plastic bags.

This is done for the convenience of the canteen operator so that they do not need to use and clean utensils. However, the health implications on our children are grave and I believe we need to address this matter as soon as possible.

We are going to achieve the status of a developed country. However, the practice of serving food and drinks in cheap and hazardous plastic doesn't show that we are moving in that direction.

There are now lots of information in the media and Internet that the plastic and poisons will leach into the food and drinks. Substances that leach from plastic such as Bisphenol-A (BPA), Poly-ethylene (PET), and styrene are known to be cancer-causing and also endocrine disrupters and a cause of obesity and diabetes. Surely we do not want to become a developed nation with citizens being sick and dying of diseases as a result of our apathy.

Another concern with the rampant use of plastic is that plastic waste is an environmental hazard to the whole world. Plastic waste when buried in the soil will not degrade for many years and the soil fertility is reduced.

Those thrown into the sea will poison the fish and other marine life that is our food source. Not only that, even the phytoplankton in the ocean that provides 59% of the earth's oxygen will also die, resulting in depletion of our oxygen supply.

If countries like Rwanda, China and Bangladesh are making an enviable effort to cut down on the use of plastic and polystyrene, I don't understand why we Malaysians who have adopted the famous saying "Malaysia Boleh" cannot start to make changes for the good of our children, mankind and our fragile Earth.

Mr S.M. Mohamed Idris, president of the Consumers Association of Penang, has often written to warn us about the hazards of plastic. The Education Ministry should take heed and ensure that canteen operators should provide healthy food which is not tainted with poison leached out of plastic to our children.

Surely we do not want to wait and see as was done in the case of tobacco use before definite action is taken.

With the emergence of a more educated and litigious society in the future, the Government may face litigation claims from former students who have developed cancer and other related diseases.

DR ZORINA KHALID,

Hospital Director, Duchess of Kent Hospital,

Sandakan, Sabah.

This article was taken from: The Star Online:News: Opinion 21 July 2009