Food packed in newspapers slowly poisoning Indians: FSSAI report

“Wrapping food in newspapers is an unhealthy practice and the consumption of such food is injurious to health, even if the food has been cooked hygienically,” The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) said in an advisory. This comes after Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare JP Nadda had directed FSSAI to issue an advisory restricting the use of newspapers as food packaging material. Foods contaminated by newspaper ink raise serious health concerns since the ink contains multiple bioactive materials with known negative health effects, the advisory said. 

Printing inks may also contain harmful colours, pigments, binders, additives and preservatives. Beside chemical contaminants, presence of pathogenic microorganisms in used newspapers also pose potential risk to human health. Newspapers and cardboard boxes made of recycled paper may be contaminated with metallic contaminants, mineral oils and harmful chemicals like the phthalates which can cause digestive problems and lead to severe toxicity.