The rumor of "plastic seaweed" has just been refuted, and the circle of friends has been flooded with "plastic fans" again - fake

Vermicelli-like foods are often eaten by everyone, and their smooth taste makes them very popular among many people. But recently, a video of “fans on fire” has gone viral on the Internet, saying that fans can be set on fire because they contain plastic.

Recently, a video has been circulated on the Internet. It is about a female consumer who "teared Longkou vermicelli with her hands" and said that the vermicelli can be lit with a lighter, and the more it burns, the more it burns. She even claims that it can burn The Longkou vermicelli is "something people dare not eat", "made of plastic", etc.

The truth

Vermicelli and vermicelli foods can indeed burn, but this does not mean they are made of plastic. "It is unscientific to use the burning method to identify whether vermicelli is made of plastic." Zhou Ping, a member of the Xi'an Nutrition Society, said that all vermicelli foods use starch as the main raw material, and starch products themselves are organic matter and can burn, so they are used The combustion method is not reliable to judge.

In order to prove the falsification, professionals conducted a set of experiments:

Oil droplets produced by plastic are pungent

In the video circulating online, the female consumer He used a lighter to ignite a certain brand of Longkou vermicelli, thus claiming that the Longkou vermicelli was "made of plastic." So, can Longkou fans really burn? Can dried noodles, noodles, etc. also burn? In order to verify the reliability of the "combustion method", the reporter bought 3 different brands of Longkou vermicelli from the market, as well as 1 type of dried vermicelli, 1 type of dried noodles and 1 type of sweet potato flour.

At the beginning of the experiment, the experimenter first ignited Longkou vermicelli, dried vermicelli, dried noodles, and sweet potato flour in sequence, and all of them burned. Dried vermicelli and dried noodles burn with relatively little fire and make almost no sound; Longkou vermicelli and sweet potato flour burn with relatively strong fire and make a sizzling sound, but they have no pungent smell when burning.

Then, the experimenters conducted burning experiments on five plastic products of different materials. It was found that all four plastic products produced oil droplets during the burning process and had a pungent smell, and one of them Black smoke is produced when burned.

Experimenter analysis

From the experimental results, there is a clear difference between the burning situation of Longkou vermicelli and the burning situation of plastic. Longkou vermicelli is made from starch as the main raw material. Starch itself is a carbohydrate and is easy to burn. This has nothing to do with the inclusion of plastic. There are many foods that can burn like Longkou vermicelli, such as instant noodles, dried noodles, seaweed, etc., which can all be burned. It is unscientific and unfounded to use burning methods to identify the ingredients and quality of food (vermicelli).

After the vermicelli is dried, the vermicelli will have some hollow structures, so when the ignition point reaches the burning condition, it will naturally burn. Because of its hollow structure, there will be a crackling sound.

In order to further verify that Longkou vermicelli could not contain plastic components, the experimenters conducted a second set of experiments.

At the beginning of the experiment, the experimenter first took an appropriate amount of Longkou vermicelli, dried vermicelli, dried noodles, and sweet potato flour, chopped them into pieces, and put them in the microwave for heating. After a period of heating, it can be found that the dried noodles and dried noodles have almost no change, while the Longkou vermicelli and sweet potato noodles have expanded to varying degrees.

Then, the experimenters put five plastic products of different materials into the microwave oven for heating. After a period of heating, it can be found that there is no obvious change in the plastic.

Experimenter analysis

Starch has the property of expanding when heated, just like popcorn; plastic does not, and will remain unchanged or shrink when heated. The main component of Longkou vermicelli and sweet potato flour is starch, so it naturally expands after heating; the reason why vermicelli and dried noodles do not change is because their main components are not only starch, but also protein and other ingredients, so the expansion is not obvious. Hard to see.

In the last set of experiments, the experimenters chose the dissolution method

The experimenters selected two different brands of Longkou vermicelli and 5 types of plastic products of different materials, and divided the two types of Longkou vermicelli into Vermicelli is placed in two glass bottles, five plastic products are placed in one glass bottle, and equal amounts of distilled water and equal amounts of salt water are added. After a long period of heating, you can see that almost all the Longkou vermicelli in the two glass bottles have been dissolved, while the plastic products are still the same as before.

Experimenter's analysis

Starch will dissolve when heated with water, but plastic will not change when heated with water. Adding salt water is only to accelerate the change and does not affect the results.

Through the above three sets of experiments, the experimenters believe that it is impossible that Longkou vermicelli contains plastic!

From a technological perspective, if you want to add plastic ingredients to Longkou vermicelli, the plastic must be powdered and mixed with starch. However, even in this way, the plastic and starch cannot adhere, which is not realistic; From a cost perspective, if you want to add plastic ingredients to Longkou vermicelli, you must not use low-cost recycled plastic. The price of highly transparent plastic is not low, which will increase the cost and is uneconomical.

Don’t believe rumors easily, let alone spread them casually

Experts said that in this online rumor of “plastic fans” and “plastic seaweed”, consumers were deceived and companies were harmed. Among them, the unrestricted spread of the Internet has played a key role in promoting it.

Here, the editor once again hopes that you will not create or spread rumors, and be a socially responsible Chinese citizen! ?