Why not use a polypropylene dish with carbonated drinks

carbonationcontainers

I found a polypropylene (♷) measuring cup in my home today, of the sort that comes with an immersion blender for preparing drinks. Printed on it is the warning "not to be used with hot or carbonated products". Hot I understand: the heat can warp the plastic, or cause chemicals to leach therefrom into the food. But why not use it with carbonated liquids?

Best Answer

As identified in my original comment, the most likely risk is not from the container itself, but from the fact that it's meant to be used with an immersion blender.

Heat actually isn't a major problem with polypropylene (PP). It's generally regarded as food-safe and is BPA-free (see here and here for references), and its melting point is somewhere between 130°C (266°F) and 171°C (340°F) depending on its specific crystalline configuration (or isotacticity). So you could even pour boiling water into a PP container without major risk of deformation - just don't try to bake a casserole in it or anything.

PP is often injection-molded, which can leave molding seams; these could be weak points in a closed vessel containing a carbonated beverage. But that's not really a concern with an open container.

Once you introduce an immersion blender with fast-moving blades, though, you've got the potential for hot liquids to be flung outwards if not fully submerged, causing possible risk for burns. Those blades will also intensely agitate carbonated beverages, causing a release of CO2 and extensive fizzing. The biggest reason not to use an immersion blender with these is probably that you'll lose half of the volume to spillage, and agitate the rest to the point of losing its carbonation.