Plastic cups banned in cafés

By Ashfaq Ahmed

Staff Reporter

Dubai The use of plastic cups to serve tea or other hot beverages has been banned as part of Dubai Municipality's campaign to ensure public health safety, said a Dubai Municipality official.

The ban goes into effect after a month-long grace period from yesterday.

The municipality has issued official notices to all cafeterias and restaurants, ordering them to stop using plastic cups made of rigid polystyrene to serve tea, coffee or other hot beverages. It is also in the process of testing other packaging material used for food items.

"The decision has been taken on the recommendations of the Food Safety Committee after lab tests showed such cups pose health risk. They don't withstand heat and can contaminate hot beverages," said Khalid Sharif, Assistant Director General at Health Department and Head of Food Safety Section. He said establishments can use foam polystyrene or paper cups instead.

See also Page 2

health risk

Petroleum by-product

Rigid polystyrene, of which plastic cups are made, is a polymer from a liquid hydrocarbon commercially manufactured from petroleum. At room temperature, polystyrene is normally solid, but can be melted at higher tempe-rature. Activists say toxic chemicals leach out of these products into the food, endangering human health and reproductive systems.