Parents are happy when they find their children have eaten the meals that they had taken with them to school. But a vast majority of the lunchboxes used to carry food are made of poor quality plastic and people are seldom aware of the health hazards they pose. Several such products available in the local market do not carry vital information like the grade of the plastic used to make them. Some of them have labelling on the lids only.
Normally grades 1,2, 4 and 5 are safe for food containers. However 1,2 and 4 are not recommended for children’s use. The plastic should be BPA free and a majority of the plastic containers do not have these labels. When the temperature increases the plastic leaches hazardous chemicals into the stored food. In a country like Qatar where day temperatures are high, the best grade of plastic has to be used for making food containers. I hereby request the authorities to ensure that shops sell only approved grade plastic containers for carrying food.
Pradeep Kumar
Doha
Manchester attack to affect polls outcome
Dear Sir,
This is in response to Gulf Times’s viewpoint ‘Manchester attack may have limited influence on UK polls’ (May 25). I believe that the attack will have a direct impact on the forthcoming elections in the UK. It goes without saying that whenever such a thing happens in the run-up to a general election, it hurts the prospects of the ruling party.
The Madrid train blasts (March 2004) that claimed several lives took place three days prior to the election in Spain. Jose Maria Aznar, who was the incumbent prime minister and the ruling party candidate and who was expected to win the election, lost and the loss had been attributed to the blasts.
In the present case, one respite is that the UK elections will be held on June 8 only and the Manchester attack took place on May 22. This long gap may dent the influence of the attack on the voters as the incident is not so close to the polling day.
Prime Minister Theresa May, who heads the Conservative Party and is expected to retain the post, has to prevent the repeat of any such incident as her popularity has suffered a setback after the blast. She is expected to win the June elections. However, the Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has presented his views on the war against terrorism, making the campaigning tough for the Tory leader.
C Robinson
(e-mail supplied)
