Stretchfilm, also known as plastic wrap has different names all around the world. Cling film, cling wrap or plastic wrap and glad wrap as in Australia and New Zealand Glad is the leading brand, where in the US you also find the term Saran wrap. No matter how you call it, stretchfilm a thin plastic film normally used for protecting food in containers to keep them moist and fresh. One use is during the process of making bread dough where you seal the bowl with stretchfilm to help the dough rise better. stretchfilm is typically sold on rolls in boxes with a cutting edge, clings to many smooth surfaces and because of this remain tight over the opening of a container without adhesive. The average plastic wrap is roughly 0.01 mm thick. During the years that plasticisised PVC food packaging films have been available they have become a major contributor to food safety especially protecting dairy products and meat from micro-organism that otherwise breed quickly when food is left uncovered.
Like quite a few lab accidents led to helpful inventions, stretchfilm is no exception to this. The scientist who invented it in 1953 was trying to make a hard plastic cover for his car. You could tell it was completely unsuccessful of course but the characteristics of stretchfilm showed themselves as a sure winner. The original stretchfilm material was Saran, the commercial name for PVdCl, polyvinylidene chloride, and the material was given approval so it could be used for direct dry food contact and for paperboard coating for contact with fatty and watery foods. In Australia, the original material was polyethylene with a "stickifier" in the form of edible gum. The product was introduced under the brand name "Glad" in 1966 and has since become almost a synonym for stretchfilm.
Is the use of it safe? More and more countries over the world are concerned about the environmental effect of PVC, as the material is said to be toxic and harder to recycle. Nevertheless, PVC is still used because its stretching properties offer excellent food catering presentation on the shelf, and it clings well to more kinds of surfaces. Even so, some countries are starting to ban the use of PVC in toys for infants and food contact applications. In tests that were done in the UK, France, Germany and the Netherlands they found out that the intake of DEHA was six to twenty times below the limits proposed by the EC Scientific Committee for Food which already did calculate a safety into it. Toxicologists from all across Europe agree that plasticisers used in food packaging are no hazard to health or the environment.
This being said, stretchfilm is not environmentally friendly at all. It can't be really recycled even more and more efforts being made to make it biodegradable, but its very difficult and not losing the characteristics of the stretchfilm like its stickiness for example. And it is said that 95% of plastic foil is never recycled. A sure winner and alternative to using it is aluminium foil that is recyclable, even it is not environmentally friendly in the making process (but plastic stretch isn't either).
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