Which Disposable Cutlery Is Safe? How to Choose Correctly?

A disposable cutlery set might seem like a good idea for your restaurant or café, but you have to consider many factors before you select the right set.

That is because disposable cutlery comes in different raw materials that offer you different outcomes. You must understand these materials and what they have to offer before you make a decision.

So, if you are wondering whether disposable tableware is safe, you have come to the right place. Different raw materials will help you understand different answers to this question.

Here is everything you need to know.

What Does Disposable Cutlery Include?

Disposable cutlery includes unique applications and materials that the set is made from. The application of the cutlery depends on the type of cutlery you have chosen.

For example, spoons, forks, knives, and sporks will have various applications.

Keep in mind that not all of this cutlery will be applicable to your business. It is crucial to understand the kind of food you are serving and what will offer your customers the most ease. Here are the different applications of these materials:

• Disposable Spoons: Applicable for all food businesses, such as restaurants, dessert shops, etc.
• Disposable Forks: Applicable for noodle shops, Chinese food businesses, etc.
• Disposable Knives: Applicable to all food businesses that require consumers to cut their food.
• Disposable Spork: Applicable to food businesses that want to conserve their use of forks and spoons and reduce waste.

Provide bulk spoons and forks or disposable cutlery sets individually wrapped in kraft paper to customers? It depends on your business philosophy and cost considerations.

But clearly, individually wrapped wooden cutlery set provides a better experience for consumers, even if it comes with a higher cost.

Different Materials

Here are the different materials that are used for disposable cutlery:
Plastic: This is the most commonly used disposable cutlery.

CPLA And PLA: Crystallized polylactic acid and polylactic acid. These are compostable bioplastics.

Bamboo And Wood: Most businesses are now moving towards bamboo and wood as they are sustainable options for disposable cutlery.

Keep in mind that all these above-mentioned disposable cutlery of various materials have different effects on the human body. We will analyze each of these materials and their effect on the human body one by one.

Plastic Disposable Cutlery

The first material we will discuss is disposable plastic cutlery, as it is the most common type of disposable cutlery out there. More than 560 billion individual plastic cutlery are used by people in the US each year.

Out of this, plastic spoons account for more than 90% of these utensils.

On the other hand, plastic knives are not that common. That is because plastic can not offer enough resistance for stretching. Because of this, it is not easy to cut pizza, steak, or other such food with a knife.

As a result, you will find that most restaurants and eateries will not serve knives with their food. Instead, they will provide you with plastic spoons and knives for your food.

Is Plastic Disposable Cutlery Safe?

By now, you might be wondering if it is safe to use plastic disposable cutlery. The answer is that it is not completely safe. That is because plastic containers and cutlery can generate chemicals when they are heated.

Besides that, long-term use of plastic as cutlery can lead to various health hazards. Here are the top health hazards you are exposed to when you use plastic cutlery for a long time:

1. Plastic Disposable Cutlery Contains BPA

Low-quality plastic utensils often contain BPA, and this can lead to fatal illnesses. These include cancer, obesity, infertility, and many other issues in the body if you keep using plastic cutlery for a long time.

It is crucial to check the quality of the plastic and make sure that it is BPA-free so that your customers don’t harm their health.

Nowadays, people avoid using plastic cutlery because they are also aware of these issues nowadays. So, it is best to avoid plastic cutlery altogether for your business.

2. Plastic Disposable Cutlery May Cause Cancer

Plastic disposable cutlery can also cause cancer in the long run, which is a significant health risk.

That is because all plastic tableware is a by-product of petroleum and contains various carcinogens and neurotoxins that can harm the body. These toxins will slowly enter the human body, which is why the long-term accumulation of them can lead to cancer.

Because of this, it is important to switch to better materials so that you are not harming the health of your consumers. They also understand that such cutlery can cause cancer, which is why they will not do business with your eatery.

Using disposable cutlery with safe materials will improve the image of your business and guarantee that more customers do business with you.

3. Do All Plastics Leach Out?

Finally, it is important to understand whether all plastics leach out or not to ensure the health of your target audience.

According to research, all plastics might leach harmful chemicals if they are heated or scratched. Plastic is not resistant to heat, and it has a low melting point.

That is why if food businesses are serving hot drinks and food, such as coffee and milk, in plastic cups, then there is a high risk of these chemicals leaching out.

Long-term consumption can lead to many illnesses and diseases. That is why it is crucial not to use plastics for serving food at high temperatures, as it can lead to chemicals leaching, then it will harm the human body.

CPLA Disposable Cutlery

It is important to understand the next material on our list, which is CPLA. Here is everything you must know about it to make an informed decision:

What Is CPLA Material?

CPLA stands for crystallized polylactic acid, and you can think of this material as a heat-resistant form of PLA. It is sourced from plants, and it can be converted into mold items, such as bowls, plates, straws, lids, trays, cutlery, and much more.

Most of the coffee cups and lids you see in restaurants are made from this material.

The best part about this material is that it is least susceptible to heat degradation. That is why restaurant businesses can use this material for hot foods.

CPLA Is Also Known As Bio-Plastic

Bioplastics are plastic materials that are made from renewable sources. These include recycled food waste, woodchips, vegetable oils and fats, cornstarch, and much more. CPLA also comes under the category of bioplastics because it is made from starch of plant or vegetable.

CPLA disposable cutlery is much better than plastic cutlery. That is because it is much more heat-resistant and stronger than plastic.

Is CPLA cutlery safe?

However, as a polymer of plant fibers, some chemicals and additives need to be added to obtain the excellent properties it has to offer. Some manufacturers of CPLA cutlery also prefer to add chemicals to improve the performance of the product so as obtain more orders from retailers and wholesalers.

These additives may contain some chemicals. When you expose CPLA cutlery to high temperatures for a long time, it might leach some chemicals.

That is why it might not be the best substitute for plastic tableware. We would also suggest that you don’t microwave any CPLA utensils for a long period.

Bamboo And Wood Disposable Cutlery

Finally, bamboo and wood disposable cutlery, it is perhaps the most sustainable option out of all. This cutlery is made of natural materials, which is why it is safe to use.

These materials have good hardness, stretch resistance, and much more. You will notice that wooden disposable knives and forks can be much more useful, even in steak takeaways. This is something plastic utensils will not be able to offer.

High-Temperature Resistance

The second good quality of bamboo and wood disposable cutlery is that it has high heat resistance. Because of this, the material doesn’t release any toxic substances or harmful chemicals.

Besides that, bamboo and wood are natural materials, which means they are free from chemicals from the beginning.

Another advantage about bamboo and wood is that they are not thermally conductive. So you don’t have to worry about them getting too hot in a hot pan. You can serve hot food to your customers without any issues with such cutlery.

Biodegradable

Finally, bamboo and wood are biodegradable materials because both of them come from nature. When you dispose of these materials, they will biodegrade in nature with ease without harming anything or anyone.

In the long run, this is good for the environment, and it will not fill up landfills as plastics do.

Bamboo and wood will biodegrade within two to six months. So, if any restaurant business wants to promote eco-friendliness, then they can opt for bamboo & wood disposable cutlery.

Wood & Bamboo Disposable Cutlery Are Safe for Health

Here is what you need to know about it:

Chemical-Free

Bamboo and wood disposable cutlery are free from any harmful chemicals that are present in plastics and other materials. That is because the production process of bamboo and wood cutlery is not complicated. Here are all the steps of this process that lead to the creation of these cutlery:

1. Sawing
2. Peeling
3. Slicing
4. Retort Sterilization
5. Molding
6. Hot press bending to shape, e.g., spoons and forks
7. Disinfection
8. Packaging

The process is simple, and it does not involve any chemicals. The bamboo and wood are sourced from natural elements, and then it is molded to create the disposable cutlery in the best way possible.

Although wood cutlery and bamboo cutlery are very similar, they still have differences. For details, you can check this article: Disposable Wood Cutlery VS. Disposable Bamboo Cutlery

Why Should We Not Use Plastic Disposable Cutlery?

Now that you are familiar with natural materials and how plastic is harmful, you must understand why you should not use disposable plastic cutlery.

Here are the top two reasons you should avoid using disposable cutlery, whether you are a business or an individual:

Stop Harming Our Bodies

The first reason you must not use disposable plastic cutlery is that it harms the body, and this can lead to the accumulation of harmful chemicals in the body.

It is important to take care of your health and avoid using materials that accumulate toxins in your body. These chemicals have a long-term effect on the body.

You might not notice these health issues in the short term, but these invisible chemicals will deteriorate your health in the long run. So, if you want to avoid developing diseases such as cancer and infertility, then it is best to avoid using plastic as cutlery.

Stop Harming Nature

Plastic doesn’t just harm us; it also harms nature. That is because plastic takes hundreds of years to biodegrade, which means it keeps piling up in landfills, oceans, and other places where we throw our trash.

Single-use plastic is already one of the biggest environmental problems of our time.

It is our duty to take care of our planet because it has been sustaining us for millions of years now. We need to switch to safe and environmentally friendly materials that will not exaggerate problems such as climate change and waste even further.

So, be a conscious consumer or enterprise, and make the switch to environmentally friendly materials to protect nature from any harm.

What Are The Safest Disposable Cutlery Options?

If you are wondering about the safest disposable cutlery options, then it doesn’t get better than bamboo and wood.

These disposable cutlery sets are excellent because they are safe for the human body and the environment. These options don’t have any chemicals that are a health hazard, and they degrade in no time with the environment.

Ecoure provides some of the top bamboo and wood disposable cutlery sets that you can sell to your consumers. So, whether you are a retailer, wholesaler, tableware supplier, or in the food business, be sure to connect with us today. We will be more than happy to help you select the right cutlery sets.