This is a shocking documentary about the manufacturing process of billions of single use chopsticks. The video clip is in mandarin, but I’ve summarized the key points below after the video. What the clip doesn’t say is where these chopsticks end up – if it’s only for Chinese internal consumption then the damage can still be controlled if the government were to clam down on the hygiene standards. If these are for exports, then, good luck to all chopstick wielding Asians. <\/p>\n
[kml_flashembed publishmethod=”static” fversion=”8.0.0″ movie=”http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/gqmgSHGU5Ds” width=”560″ height=”337″ targetclass=”flashmovie”\/]<\/p>\n
Quick summary of key poisons:<\/p>\n
The first is Industrial Sulfer, when smoked generates Sulfer Dioxide<\/p>\n
The second is Paraffin, a low grade residual of the petroleum refinement process<\/p>\n
The third is Sodium Metabisulfite, to bleach the chopsticks<\/p>\n
The fourth is Industrial hydrogen peroxide, to further bleach even black molded chopsticks<\/p>\n
The fifth is Industrial anhydrous sodium pyrophosphate, to enhance the hydrogen peroxide’s bleaching capabilities<\/p>\n
This is besides<\/p>\n
(i) No disinfection process at all<\/strong> (based on the 30+ factories the report visited)<\/p>\n (ii) Workers stepping on the chopsticks, left it lying on the floor, extremely low hygiene standards<\/p>\n (iii) Molded chopsticks are not removed but bleached<\/p>\n