Fire! Dangerous exploding food packaging..

[stormbind]

I'm off in a few hours. I'll be gone and won't be posting for a while: This is my last chance to wish you all Merry Christmas!

****

So my fridge is low on food, as it should be given that I won't be here to eat anything. Just microwaveable snacks to choose from, and not a wide choice either.

I didn't want to do any washing up, so decided to reuse McCain microwaveable packaging. And, you know what happened? Do you know what happens when you reuse McCain's microwaveable packaging?

It blew up! Well, actually, it melted and caught fire. When I opened the microwave door, I was presented with a massive plume of toxic smoke that filled my home. Urgh! It's really nasty *cough* *splutter*

Is that legal? Are they allowed to sell microwaveable packaging that blows up if reused? I mean - what would happen if I just put their snacks in the microwave for too long?

This was packaging for their thin chips/fries.

 

[MSTK]

I cooked a piece of toast for 5 minutes plus on a microwave at night. I couldn't get to sleep, even upstairs

 

[FriendlyFire]

I can guess that the plastic has and will release toxions into the food.
If you have had repeated food posioning then thats what happened.

Else it might be one off. Did the packagaing have water / ice crystals ?
That could cause it to melt

 

[LoughlinNR]

a similar thing happens to mineral water bottles if you reuse a bottle over and over again the toxic packaging starts to fall apart bit by bit into the water untill you end up with cancer like a little girl in saudi arabia - she used the same bottle over and over again and the toxic bits in the bottle were washed into the water and after a year of this she got cancer and died, but the companys wont tell you about this incase you might stop buying their water...

 

[stratego]

You shouldn't reuse the packaging because it's very dangerous. And plastic wraps can cause. Instead you should just wrap it in aluminum foil before you put the food back in the microwave. That would insure safe and healthy cooking.

 

[Yom]

I'm off in a few hours. I'll be gone and won't be posting for a while: This is my last chance to wish you all Merry Christmas!

****

So my fridge is low on food, as it should be given that I won't be here to eat anything. Just microwaveable snacks to choose from, and not a wide choice either.

I didn't want to do any washing up, so decided to reuse McCain microwaveable packaging. And, you know what happened? Do you know what happens when you reuse McCain's microwaveable packaging?

It blew up! Well, actually, it melted and caught fire. When I opened the microwave door, I was presented with a massive plume of toxic smoke that filled my home. Urgh! It's really nasty *cough* *splutter*

Is that legal? Are they allowed to sell microwaveable packaging that blows up if reused? I mean - what would happen if I just put their snacks in the microwave for too long?

This was packaging for their thin chips/fries.

It was plastic, right? Were you really expecting that a petroleum product would not catch fire after being exposed to microwaves?

 

[zurichuk]

You shouldn't reuse the packaging because it's very dangerous. And plastic wraps can cause. Instead you should just wrap it in aluminum foil before you put the food back in the microwave. That would insure safe and healthy cooking.

is foil safe for a microwave?????

 

[Cheetah]

I'm pretty sure that was a joke.

Put the food in cheramics or glass or something. Much better.

 

[Babbler]

I can guess that the plastic has and will release toxions into the food.
If you have had repeated food posioning then thats what happened.

Else it might be one off. Did the packagaing have water / ice crystals ?
That could cause it to melt

Mircowaves do not have enugh energy to break chemical bonds, so it cannot release toxins into the food.

You shouldn't put water in the mircowave to boil. There have been cases where the blown up in someone's face, and burned badly.

 

[Dr. Yoshi]

I only use those microwaveable packages that come with food once for that very reason. They don't build those things to last.

 

[Renata]

Mircowaves do not have enugh energy to break chemical bonds, so it cannot release toxins into the food.

That's not completely true. Heat-stimulated reactions will obviously happen in a microwave, at least if there's anything in there that's subject to microwave heating the way water is. And very weak "bonds", such as those resulting from Van der Waals interactions between some types of plastic and the toxic plasticizers used to make them, can be disrupted, allowing the toxins to dissolve readily into the food. Only glass, ceramic and plastic and paper containers labelled as microwave-safe should be used in microwaves.

You shouldn't put water in the mircowave to boil. There have been cases where the blown up in someone's face, and burned badly.

True enough, although it can be prevented by sticking a wooden stirrer -- or anything else nonmetallic with a rough surface -- into the cup. If you're making tea, the tea bag will do.

Renata

 

[Pirate]

a similar thing happens to mineral water bottles if you reuse a bottle over and over again the toxic packaging starts to fall apart bit by bit into the water untill you end up with cancer like a little girl in saudi arabia - she used the same bottle over and over again and the toxic bits in the bottle were washed into the water and after a year of this she got cancer and died, but the companys wont tell you about this incase you might stop buying their water...

HOAX! Or a conspiracy to make us buy MORE water. People who sell bottles of water want you to keep buying more water, instead of buying one and refilling it with perfectly clean tap water.

Anyway, here's the real story from the American Plastics Council:
http://www.plasticsinfo.org/beveragebottles/APCWaterBottlesFAQs.pdf

And from an anti-hoax website:
http://www.breakthechain.org/exclusives/waterbottles.html

And plenty more if you just do a quick internet search. Check your sources, people, we're not ALL Dan Rather.

 

[IglooDame]

I'm curious, did the packaging actually have any sort of label saying "do not reuse"?

 

[Scuffer]

HOAX! Or a conspiracy to make us buy MORE water. People who sell bottles of water want you to keep buying more water, instead of buying one and refilling it with perfectly clean tap water.

Although the anti-hoax site does point out the problem of contimination by bacteria of reused bottles.

Interestingly, water cooler frequently contain Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and some of the stuff that lives inside drinks vending machines is pretty nasty too.
Not that either pose a public health risk to any extent mind you.

 

[stormbind]

I'm curious, did the packaging actually have any sort of label saying "do not reuse"?

Nope. There was no warning, or any printed label to suggest it might be unsafe.

Sorry for bumping an old thread. I'm not back from holiday yet (although it has now turned into business) and this was my first visit to CFC since leaving.