Self-heating food The heating packs have certain safety hazards.
Self-heating food is a hot topic these days.
Currently, dine-in restaurants in most areas of Guangzhou are still open only in a restricted manner. To avoid cross-infection, the canteens of many companies have not yet opened. Therefore, "self-heating food" has become a consumption hotspot in recent times. As the Consumer Rights Protection Day is approaching, our reporter has tested and investigated the "self-heating food" market.
The accelerated pace of work and life, the vigorous development of the home economy, and the rise of the lazy economy have all contributed to the rapid popularity of self-heating food. Data from e-commerce platforms such as Taobao and Suning shows that from January 20 to February 2, 2020, self-heating food ranked among the top selling products, and the sales volume on many e-commerce platforms A year-on-year increase of more than 200%. However, safety "little accidents" accompanying self-heating food also occur from time to time. The reporter's test on self-heating food also showed that this popular food does have many safety hazards.
Self-heating food has no national standard guarantee
China food industry analyst Zhu Danpeng believes that self-heating food is only one of the categories at special nodes in the epidemic, with limited application scenarios and small channels that limit self-heating food With the normal distribution of takeaway and the full opening of dine-in in the future, the demand for self-heating food may return to normal levels. "The most important thing is that self-heating food heats up the product through chemical reactions, and there is no guarantee of safety, and the industry lacks national standards."
Survey data: consumers are most concerned about health and safety
Taobao data shows , During the period from January 20 to February 2, 2020, self-heating food ranked second among hot-selling products, second only to snail powder products. Among them, the sales volume of self-heating rice increased by 257.09% year-on-year. Suning Big Data also shows that,The sales volume of self-heating hot pot category increased by 370.27% year-on-year. On the other side of
's hot sales, consumers' concerns cannot be ignored. Recently, this newspaper launched an investigation on the use of self-heating food on its official Weibo and the WeChat account of "Eat in Guangdong".
"Convenience" is the main reason why consumers choose self-heating food. According to the survey data of "Eat in Guangdong", 74% of consumers value this point, 18% think it is "hygienic than takeout", and only 7% think it is "delicious". "Unhealthy" has become the "label" of self-heating food in the minds of many consumers. As high as 71% of the respondents think it is "unhealthy", and 21% said that "it doesn't matter, it's delicious", and they think it is "healthy" of only 6%.
Safety risks are the most worrying issue for consumers about self-heating food, 92% of them think so. Among a number of safety hazards, "excessive plasticizers" are the most concerned, with 34% focusing on this, and another 28% concerned about "steam burns".
Self-heating food can be heated by adding water without electricity or fire. Consumers must strictly follow the guidelines, so how many people will be so cautious? As of yesterday's press release, a total of 1,405 people on Weibo participated in the survey. Among them, 626 people chose to "read it very carefully and follow the steps", 554 people chose "it is easy to read, it's almost good", and 138 people chose "never Look, the operation has been understood by heart", 87 people chose "never watch, according to their own habits".
Self-heating pot test, there are three major problems
Question 1:
Which one should put the heating pack and water first?
Are your hands fast and safe?
"That time I put the heat pack first, and then added water. It responded very quickly, and the steam kept coming up. I hurriedly put the plastic rack where the vegetables were placed, and when I was nervous,The shelf was not in place, and part of it was inserted into the water below, and the lime water mixed into the food. My hands were also scalded by the steam. "Ms. Wu recalled the "overturning scene" when she ate self-heating hot pot for the first time. The self-heating dish was mixed with lime water, so she had to throw away the whole box. Water, and adding water first and then releasing the heating pack, found that the former has a time difference due to pouring water, which is more prone to the phenomenon of "reacting in advance and releasing steam", and has a higher chance of getting hot. The reporter tested Haidilao, Mo Xiaoxian, There are 6 types of self-heating food, including Man-eater Valley, Kaixiaozao, Zihai Pot and Hongdenglong. The operation guidelines are not completely unified. Except for Haidilao, the operation methods of the other 5 types are the more “dangerous” “heat the bag first, then heat the food.” Cold water", in which "Mo Xiaoxian" also reminded in the guide: "The heating pack will start to heat up within 15 seconds of contacting with water. "If the heating pack has been placed, then the time for pouring the water, placing the food rack and closing the lid must be controlled within 15 seconds - this is a "race" of "hand speed".
Question 2:
The amount of water is unclear, do you feel good enough?
The control of the amount of water also makes it difficult for some consumers: if the amount of water is too much, the boiling lime water will easily overflow into the upper dishes; Full fever. Mr. Cai, who works in a cultural company, said that although the manual said that the maximum amount of water was 210ml, but there was no measuring cup at home, he could only guess how to add water. The first time he added too much water, it overflowed the box directly, "I was scared to avoid it. far away.
The reporter saw that Haidilao, Zihai Pot and Kai Xiaozao clearly marked the "water level" on the boxes and food racks, but Zihai Pot was only marked on the outside of the plastic box, not inside the box. "Hong Denglong" is equipped with two packs of water, which directly controls the amount of water. "Mo Xiaoxian" and "Cannibal Valley" neither have the water level marked on the box, nor the packaged water. There is no indication of the amount of water, but only says "the heating pack", which depends on the consumer's feel. "Mo Xiaoxian" gives a guideline of "210ml of water".
Question 3:
Confined space There are hidden dangers in Chinese food self-heating pot
The reporter operates a "self-heating pot" according to the guidelines,After 15 minutes, I opened it and found that the heating pack had cracked. It has been observed that the reminders on each heating pack are also inconsistent, and "sealed disabled" is not mentioned on some heating packs.
It can be seen from the instructions on the outer packaging that the heating pack contains calcium oxide and aluminum powder, which will release flammable gas when exposed to water hydrogen . Zeng Qiuwen, a food engineer, said that hydrogen will be produced after the heating pack reacts. If the volume concentration of hydrogen in the air is between 4.0% and 75.6%, even if it encounters a little static spark, it will explode. In other words, if there are many people eating self-heating hot pot in a confined space at the same time, there is a certain safety hazard. "So, you must pay attention to ventilation when eating, and try not to eat in a small confined space. In addition, the components of self-heating sources and risks should be fully marked." Zeng Qiuwen believes. (Zeng Fanying)
.
