10/08/2005

safety and environment: would you put a razor blade in your children's mouth?

the thought of such an act is chilling. the fine and razor sharp blade slicing away at the tongue, the gums and the inner cheeks, drawing a piercing scream from the innocent and helpless child. you bet it no one will try this on their precious children. but many unknowingly actually did just that. all they need to do is to buy a packet of takeaway food from the hawker stalls or foodcourt. what was a convenient disposal plastic spoon could turn out to be a real menace. these spoons come in a few models. the large and thicker model is quite safe. so is the medium size model. another model that is relatively safe is one with its edges folded backwards. still, at times some of the sharp plastic edges could be present. the worst and deadliest model is the very fine and thin one. apparently it must be the cheapest model if the savings on the amount of plastic used is a measure of its material cost. yes, this is really thin, fine and the edges extremely sharp, exactly like the feel of a razor blade. i encountered one once in the hdb foodcourt. i reported it to the local media but never hear anything about this since. it is an accident waiting happen, if it has not already taken some victims. the spoon is so sharp that i almost cut myself with it. and to imagine a playful little child slashing all over his/her mouth, or pushing it into another child's mouth to share their food. i am posting this in the hope that the relevant ministry will look into this and impose more quality control to ensure that plastic spoons approved for sale and use by the public are safe. ouch!

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