Recently, a video went viral on various platforms showing 8-year-old Keke, who, while eating snacks, playfully put a desiccant packet from her snack into a drink bottle containing water. Unexpectedly, an explosion occurred. Within 20 minutes, Keke's right eye was corroded by the alkaline liquid, resulting in the complete dissolution of her eyeball and permanent blindness. Industry professionals warn that parents must prevent children from contacting desiccants found in food packaging.
Reports indicate that food desiccants causing harm, particularly injuries to children, are not uncommon. For example, in 2011, a middle school student in Taiyuan placed a desiccant into a thermos containing warm water; after a while, the thermos exploded, causing the student to lose sight in one eye. In 2015, a 5-year-old boy in Shangrao was playing with a desiccant when it accidentally entered his eye, causing severe burns to his eyeball and eyelid, potentially resulting in permanent blindness. Relevant departments, including manufacturers, should fulfill their responsibilities and implement effective safety measures to prevent this common household item from becoming a weapon causing injury.
Food desiccants, which provide drying and moisture-proofing functions, have become indispensable components of many food and health products; even a bag of cookies or an individually wrapped mooncake may contain a small packet of desiccant. Reports show that currently, most desiccants on the market primarily use calcium oxide (quicklime), silica gel, ferric oxide, and calcium chloride as raw materials. These substances are highly corrosive and can harm the human body, even leading to the tragic cases of childhood blindness reported in the news.
Especially with rising household incomes and increased parental care, many parents give their children allowances to buy snacks or purchase snacks for their children's independent consumption. Under these circumstances, it cannot be ruled out that these minors may purchase snacks containing desiccants without adequate supervision. Coupled with their strong curiosity and lack of self-control, these minors may, under peer pressure, accidentally ingest the desiccant or conduct "dangerous experiments," ultimately causing serious harm and irreversible tragedies.
In reality, food desiccants becoming hidden "weapons" around children is due to parents' insufficient understanding of the dangers of desiccants and inadequate supervision and education, as well as manufacturers shirking responsibility in the absence of relevant standards. It is undeniable that many food packages containing desiccants only use small print to indicate that they are inedible, lacking warning labels or symbols. This leads to insufficient awareness of the harm they can cause among children and even adults, resulting in negligence or disregard for children's contact with these dangerous items.
Although extreme cases of food desiccants causing harm are not widespread, any injury is a disaster and tragedy for the victim. Relevant departments should take measures to prevent such incidents. First, regulatory agencies or industry associations can take the lead in formulating more scientific and reasonable standards to reduce the harm caused by misuse or accidental ingestion, such as gradually phasing out quicklime desiccants and using safer fiber desiccants. Second, desiccant packaging should be improved with more prominent and noticeable warning labels, images, and text to highlight the dangers. This ensures that children with a certain level of understanding and recognition can identify them as "dangerous goods" to be avoided.
Furthermore, educational institutions and parents should fulfill their supervisory and educational responsibilities. For example, desiccants should be widely publicized as dangerous items, similar to firecrackers and cigarettes, to educate, guide, and "warn" children to stay away from these dangerous items. Only then can minors subconsciously understand the dangers of desiccants and prevent avoidable injuries.
