A worker at a chopstick factory shows how to polish disposable chopsticks with toxic paraffin wax and talc in Liuzhou, the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, in April. [Photo/Xinhua]

Sales of portable utensils surge online as health concerns rise

Chopsticks may bring to mind delicious Chinese dishes, hard-to-use tableware, or ravaged forests. However, the dinnerware now represents something far more sinister for Chinese Internet users: terrible toxins.

On Sunday, actor Huang Bo posted a message on his micro blog saying that when he tried to wash the disposable chopsticks provided to him in a restaurant, he was astonished to find that the chopsticks turned the water yellow and gave off a pungent smell.

"Stop using disposable chopsticks, it is not about saving the environment anymore, it is about saving your own life," Huang wrote on the micro blog.

The message was forwarded 125,000 times.

Angry netizens asked Huang to reveal the name of the restaurant, Huang said the bad chopsticks are not only provided in that one restaurant, but are widely distributed.

Dong Jinshi, secretary-general of the International Food Packaging Association, said the color and smell of the chopsticks may indicate that they were exposed to sulphur and other chemical substances.

"Sulphur, hydrogen peroxide, sodium sulfite and mold inhibitor, are chemical substances commonly used to make disposable chopsticks, even though they are not allowed," Dong said.

China enacted a national standard on disposable chopsticks in 2010. It included specific criteria on additional chemical agents and the amount allowable to produce chopsticks.

"For example, the standard says food-grade sulphur can be used in the production of bamboo chopsticks, while the sulfur dioxide residue should be controlled under 600 milligrams in one kilogram of chopsticks. But sulphur is not supposed to be used for wooden chopsticks," Dong said.

However, the standard has never been thoroughly carried out Dong told China Daily.

"There is not even a specific government department in charge of the quality control," he said.