<Anchor> We
reported last week that a large amount of microplastics were detected on the surface of beef or pork sold in packages. It is because of the super absorbent resin and microplastic contained in the blood-absorbing pad, but after the report,
large supermarkets started to change the pad to an eco-friendly material.
By Song In-ho.
<Reporter>
A large supermarket in Seoul.
Instead of a moisture-absorbing pad under the packaged meat, paper was laid.
It stopped using SAP immediately after SBS reported that a large amount of microplastics were detected in the 'moisture absorption pad' containing super-absorbent resin.
[Joo Kyung-don / Supermarket official: We plan to preemptively change the material of the absorbent pad used in livestock and fishery stores to pulp material in principle that customer safety is the top priority.]
Other hypermarkets also have SAP water absorbent pads. went out on expulsion.
[Lim Eun-jin / Yangcheon-gu, Seoul: Every time I bought meat, it was lying on the floor, so I looked at it, but I did not know that microplastics were coming out there. (If I had known) I wouldn't have bought it.] The
government also started an investigation.
"We plan to conduct on-site inspections of manufacturers of moisture absorbent pads that use SAP, as well as determine the cause of how this substance gets on meat. In the
United States, we limit the proportion of substances of concern when using SAP as food containers, but has no standard itself.
Whether it is harmful to humans is only at the beginning of research, but research is emerging that it can cause cytotoxicity.
[Kwon Jeong-hwan/Professor of Environmental and Ecological Engineering, Korea University: Most researchers acknowledge that they are like cells (microplastics) and physically cause inflammation or have a toxic effect.] The
Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, if necessary He said he would prepare.
(Video editing: Jeon Min-gyu, VJ: Shin So-young)