Plastic wrap

Plastic wrap, typically sold on rolls in boxes with a cutting edge, clings to many smooth surfaces and can thus remain tight over the opening of a container without adhesive.

[1][2] The trend has been to produce thinner plastic wrap, particularly for household use (where very little stretch is needed), so now the majority of brands on shelves around the world are 8, 9 or 10 μm thick.

Plastic wrap generally provides protection for food from three aspects: chemical (gases, moisture, and light), biological (microorganisms, insects and animals), and physical (mechanical damage).

“But as part of the approval process, the FDA considers the amount of a substance expected to migrate into food and the toxicological concerns about the particular chemical.” A couple of cases have caught media attention in recent years.

According to writing in FDA Consumer Magazine as of November 2002, when used properly the use of plastic wrap in food preparation does not pose danger to human health.

Toxic compounds in plastics can disrupt hormone regulation in the cells of organisms, which can lead to alteration of animals’ mating behavior, reproductive ability, and even cause the development of tumors.

[10] A study shows that using recycled plastic materials can reduce the environmental impacts significantly as a result of minimizing exploration, mining and transportation of natural gas and oil.

The results showed that plastics with fibrous reinforcement added can sharply reduce resource usage and global warming in civil applications.