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Pulished on Sep. 17, 2020
Babies will want to feed themselves when they are about one year old, but parents have difficulty facing the dazzling array of tableware. Currently, most of the tableware on the market is made of plastic, which is not easy to break, and also easy for parents to feel the food temperature, so as not to burn children.
Plastic tableware on the market has a variety of styles and shapes. Although there are many materials used to make tableware, such as plastic, ceramic, glass, stainless steel, bamboo wood, melamine, etc., for children’s tableware, the materials are usually plastic, stainless steel, bamboo wood, and melamine.
Plastic tableware is made by the polymerization of high molecular compounds, and some solvents, plasticizers and colorants are added during the processing to ensure the product molding.
So, how should parents choose plastic tableware for their babies?
Recommend to choose polypropylene
The American Plastics Industry Association has formulated the identification code for plastic products, using numbers 1 to 7 and English abbreviations to refer to the types of plastics.
Polypropylene is what we often call PP plastic. It is currently the top priority for parents to consider buying children’s tableware materials. It can withstand the high temperature of 140 ℃ without deformation, and also will not release harmful substances after deformation.
Under the condition of ensuring safety, the PP plastic bowl has rich colors and designs, which can increase the baby’s interest in learning to eat, is safe and reliable.
Be careful to avoid polycarbonate
Polycarbonate is what we often call PC plastic, and the logo code is 07. Because bisphenol A needs to be added in the process of manufacturing polycarbonate, although it does not affect adults, the European Union believes that bisphenol A bottles will cause precocious puberty. The import and sale of polycarbonate and other baby bottles containing bisphenol A have also been banned in China. But there are still quite a few tableware made of PC plastic. Parents remember to avoid this sign when choosing plastic products for their babies
It is not recommended to choose Imitation porcelain plastic tableware.
This kind of tableware is also called melamine plastic tableware, which uses a combination of melamine and formaldehyde. The Melamine tableware is rich in color, has a ceramic-like gloss, is scratch-resistant and no need to worry about the breakage after falling, and is safer for daily use.
However, a study by Taiwan’s Kaohsiung Medical University found that cheap melamine tableware releases melamine at around 30 degrees Celsius, which can cause serious kidney damage over time. Parents are not recommended to use such materials as tableware.
Nowadays, there is a wheat straw tableware on the market that is very popular, and many parents maybe do not really know this tableware. In many restaurants, you can also see bowl and plates, cups, saucers, etc. of this kind of material, with different shapes and colors, and the products are light in weight.
Many people will have questions: What exactly is wheat straw?
The main components of wheat straw are cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, polyuronic acid, protein and minerals. Among them, the content of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin is as high as 35% to 40%. The active ingredients are cellulose and hemicellulose. This is a partially biodegradable tableware, which contains wheat straws, so the product has a light wheat fragrance. It is not that flavor is added, nor is it excluded that some flavors are added to increase its fragrance. The materials inside are straw, rice husk, starch, water, a small part of food grade PP, which is much better than pure plastic tableware. High temperature resistance, low cost, degradable, good toughness, and no heavy metals.
If parents choose plastic tableware for their children, also recommend to choose tableware made of wheat straw material.
