Rumor dismantling | hanging-ear coffee does not contain a wet strength agent that can cause cancer

Market hanging-ear coffee is mainly made of non-woven cloth, using wet technology, the appearance and touch of the coffee is similar to that of paper, but no wet strength agent will be added.

On September 16, 2016, Taiwan nephrologist Chiang Shou-shan publicly stated on Facebook that "hanging-ear coffee is usually packaged in paper, but under the brewing of hot water, the paper is not broken, mainly because this paper has a wet strength agent," and stressed that wet strength agents such as polyamide epichlorohydrin (Polyamide Epichlorohydrin,PAE) are 2B carcinogens, and if they encounter alcohols and oils in coffee, they will dissolve the carcinogens of the wet strength agent into the coffee. This remark immediately attracted the attention of many media, and also caused experts and scholars to jump out and hit them in the face to say that they had never heard of it. As the discussion becomes more and more heated, there have been many reports in the past that the filter bags of hanging-ear coffee, tea bags, halogen bags and traditional Chinese medicine bags are made of plastic, and whether they will cause plasticizer dissolution in the brewing process, it has also been discussed again and again.

First of all, the analysis of the protagonist of this dispute-hanging ear coffee, its most common material is non-woven, non-woven refers to the traditional warp and weft textile, but directly formed by high pressure or glued to produce a kind of cloth. According to the Taiwan Nonwoven Industry Information Network, the nonwoven fabric used to make beverage brewing filter bags is mainly made by wet technology, which is similar to paper in appearance and touch, so it may cause people to mistakenly think that it is made of paper, not made of paper and wet strength agent, as Chiang Shou-shan said.

If you use non-woven cloth as the material of hanging-ear coffee, is there no doubt about adding wet strength or plasticizer? In this regard, Xu Huimin, deputy manager of the verification technology department of the plastic Industry Technology Development Center, says that the materials of non-woven fabrics are mainly divided into natural fibers and man-made fibers, which belong to polymer materials as well as plastics, and there are more man-made fibers than natural fibers in quantity. According to the market research report provided by Jishang Global Information Co., Ltd., in the market outlook of wet nonwovens published on June 6, 2014, it is pointed out that the man-made fibers used in wet nonwovens may be Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polypropylene (Polypropylene, PP), nylon and so on. Hsu Hui-min says that wet strength agents are mainly used in the paper industry, while plasticizers are mainly used in PolyVinyl Chloride (PVC). Judging from the material of non-woven fabrics, wet strength agents or plasticizers will not be used in the production process, so people do not have to worry.

In terms of the materials of tea bags, halogen bags and traditional Chinese medicine bags sold in the market, in addition to non-woven cloth, there are mainly two kinds of cotton and PET. The number of traditional cotton tea bags fixed with staples has been very small in recent years, and the most common material is PET. In the past, some media or TV programs have reported that tea bags made of PET may cause plasticizer to dissolve if they are boiled at high temperature or soaked in boiling water for too long. In fact, this is a rumor that has been misunderstood for a long time, because PET does not need to add plasticizer at all, so there will be no problem of plasticizer dissolution. In addition, Xu Huimin also stressed that the current guidelines for good Food Hygiene (GHP) also require food container manufacturers to select materials that are suitable for heat resistance, acid and alkali resistance according to the purpose of the final product before the product is produced.

Therefore, it seems that it is too much to worry about the problem of wet strength agents or even plasticizers in hanging-ear coffee or tea bags, but in response to the misgivings about the use of wet strength agents in other paper packaging used in food, Zheng Weizhi, the Chief Technical Officer of the Food Section of the Food and Drug Administration, said that wet strength agents are not used for food in the first place, so they will not be listed as food additives, and they are currently used legally in the world, but they will be studied as soon as possible. If there is scientific evidence that it is harmful to the human body, we do not rule out the relevant norms.