(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) The Dubai Municipality on Sunday denied reports carried by the local media that styrofoam cups used to serve hot and sour beverages pose a health risk to humans.
Khalid Ali bin Zayed, Assistant Undersecretary of the Dubai Municipality for International and Partnership Sector, who also serves as the municipality's spokesperson, clarified that the civic body has not received any reports from international bodies regarding a ban on using foam cups to serve hot beverages and food.
Khalid said the reports carried by the local media and social networking sites are 'unclear'. "We at the Dubai Municipality will definitely be the first one to ban it in case foam cups prove to cause diseases."
He said the municipality did not receive any directives or instructions from the National Food Safety Committee regarding the issue.
Khalid pointed out that the municipality deals with international organisations specialising in food safety such as the World Health Organisation (WHO), the International Food Standards (Codex), the EU, as well as some regional organisations like the GCC Committee for Food Safety.
He said the municipality did not receive any warnings from such bodies.
Khalid said: "The issue being raised is related to a substance called styrene, and whether it causes cancer or not. This matter is based on a study conducted by the US National Research Council, and bear in mind that such a study has not been approved.
"We would like to assure the public and people in the country that foam is a safe material, which conforms to the international legislations and rules being applied in the country currently. In case this material proves to be unsafe to human health, the municipality shall certainly ban its use."
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