Copycat Melamine Tableware 'Harmful'

Bandar Seri Begawan - Fake melamine, tableware, cheap they may be, can pose harm to your health and are known to emit carcinogenic substances when subjected to high heat.

Thus, warned Monchai Apichatmontree, director of SIAMBRU Sdn Bhd, a major distributor of pure melamine dinner ware in the country. He said fake melamine wares were already banned in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, with many more countries set to follow suit.

Fake melamine tableware can emit urea, an ingredient used to make fertilisers, when exposed to high temperatures, he said. "Pure melamine (on the other hand) has a plastic component of Alfa cellulose, melamine crystal and formaldehyde solvent," he said, adding that these made real melamine crockery safe, durable and resistant to heat.

"It is also hygienic, lightweight and most importantly it has a slow rate of heat transfer which means there will be no chemical reaction." In contrast, the lamination on imitation melamine tableware is not lasting. Such fake goods allowed the heat from the food to be absorbed into the urea lamination and prints, he explained.

He said the chemical urea was known to cause cancer and was hazardous to the intestines, and to general health.

Melamine crockery was introduced to Brunei Darussalam due to its attractive prints and durability. The original melamine tableware product then cost between $3 and $10.

With budget shops popping up in the Sultanate recently, one can buy these products for as low as 80 cents per piece.

"The only way you can tell a real melamine ware and a fake one is through the weight, colour and the brand of the melamine wares," said Monchai. The three brands to look out for when shopping for pure melamine tableware are Superware, Vanda, Inica and Melamine," said Monchai.

A real melamine product, once it is in a stable form after production - including heat and pressure stages, is highly unlikely to be recycled or reshaped.  -- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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