The Plastic Chemicals Hiding in Your Food

on

 

The Plastic Chemicals Hiding in Your Food

CR tested popular fast foods and supermarket staples for bisphenols and phthalates, which can be harmful to your health. Here's what we found—and how to stay safer.

 
Consumer Reports has investigated bisphenols and phthalates in food and food packaging a few times over the past 25 years. In our new tests, we checked a wider variety of foods to see how much of the chemicals Americans actually consume. The answer? Quite a lot. Our tests of nearly 100 foods found that despite growing evidence of potential health threats, bisphenols and phthalates remain widespread in our food.  
 https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-contaminants/the-plastic-chemicals-hiding-in-your-food-a7358224781/
 Del Monte sliced peaches, Chicken of the Sea pink salmon, Fairlife Core Power high-protein chocolate milkshakes, Yoplait Original French vanilla low-fat yogurt, and several fast foods, including Wendy’s crispy chicken nuggets, a Chipotle chicken burrito, and a Burger King Whopper with cheese. Organic products were just as problematic: In fact, the highest phthalate levels we found were in a can of Annie’s Organic cheesy ravioli.

Yet some products had much lower levels than others. A serving of Pizza Hut’s Original Cheese Pan Pizza, for example, had half the phthalate levels of a similar pizza from Little Caesars. Levels varied even among products from the same brand: Chef Boyardee Big Bowl Beefaroni pasta in meat sauce had less than half the level of the company’s Beefaroni pasta in tomato and meat sauce.

"That tells us that, as widespread as these chemicals are, there are ways to reduce how much is in our foods," says James E. Rogers, PhD, who oversees product safety testing at CR. Read more about how CR tested foods for phthalates and bisphenols (PDF).

The trouble is, there are so many ways these chemicals enter our food.

Early efforts to limit exposure to them focused on packaging, but it’s now clear that phthalates in particular can also get in from the plastic in the tubing, conveyor belts, and gloves used during food processing, and can even enter directly into meat and produce via contaminated water and soil.

There are few regulations restricting the use of these chemicals in food production, or requiring that manufacturers test foods for them. But our guide can help you learn how plasticizers get into your food, how to reduce your exposure, and how key changes by industry and regulators could make our food safer.

Read the whole article here   https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-contaminants/the-plastic-chemicals-hiding-in-your-food-a7358224781/

 

BEVERAGES
Total phthalates per serving (nanograms)*
Brisk Iced Tea Lemon (can)
7,467
Coca-Cola Original (plastic)
6,167
Lipton Diet Green Tea Citrus (plastic)
4,433
Poland Spring 100% Natural Spring Water (plastic)
4,217
Juicy Juice 100% Juice Apple (plastic)
3,348
Pepsi Cola (can)
2,938
Juicy Juice 100% Juice Apple (cardboard box)
2,260
Gatorade Frost Thirst Quencher Glacier Freeze (plastic)
1,752
Polar Seltzer Raspberry Lime (can)
0
Canned Beans
Total phthalates per serving (nanograms)*
Hormel Chili With Beans (can)
9,847
Bush’s Chili Red Beans Mild Chili Sauce (can)
6,405
Great Value (Walmart) Baked Beans Original (can)
6,184
Bush’s Baked Beans Original (can)
3,709
Condiments
Total phthalates per serving (nanograms)*
Mrs. Butterworth’s Syrup Original (plastic)
1,010
Hunt’s Tomato Ketchup (plastic)
574
Sweet Baby Ray’s Barbecue Sauce Original (plastic)
22
Dairy
Total phthalates per serving (nanograms)*
Fairlife Core Power High Protein Milk Shake Chocolate (plastic)
20,452
SlimFast High Protein Meal Replacement Shake Creamy Chocolate (plastic)
16,916
Yoplait Original Low Fat Yogurt French Vanilla (plastic)
10,948
Tuscan Dairy Farms Whole Milk (plastic)
10,932
Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Vanilla (paperboard carton)
6,387
Wholesome Pantry (ShopRite) Organic Whole Milk (carton)
4,620
Great Value (Walmart) Ice Cream Homestyle Vanilla (paperboard)
3,068
Jell-O Pudding Snacks Original Chocolate (plastic)
1,756
Sargento Sliced Natural Cheddar Cheese Sharp (plastic)
1,481
Land O’Lakes Butter Salted (paper wrap/cardboard)
581
Fast Food
Total phthalates per serving (nanograms)*
Wendy’s Crispy Chicken Nuggets (paperboard)
33,980
Moe’s Southwest Grill Chicken Burrito (aluminum foil)
24,330
Chipotle Chicken Burrito (aluminum foil)
20,579
Burger King Whopper With Cheese (paper)
20,167
Burger King Chicken Nuggets (paper bag)
19,782
Wendy’s Dave’s Single With Cheese (aluminum foil/paper wrap)
19,520
McDonald’s Quarter Pounder With Cheese (cardboard)
9,956
Wendy’s Natural-Cut French Fries (paperboard)
8,876
Burger King Classic French Fries (paperboard)
8,512
McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets (cardboard)
8,030
Little Caesars Classic Cheese Pizza (cardboard box)
5,703
McDonald’s French Fries (paperboard)
5,538
McDonald’s Quarter Pounder Hamburger Patty (varied)
5,428
Taco Bell Chicken Burrito (paper wrap)
4,720
Domino’s Hand Tossed Cheese Pizza (cardboard box)
4,356
Wendy’s Dave’s Single Hamburger Patty (varied)
3,629
Burger King Whopper Hamburger Patty (varied)
2,870
Pizza Hut Original Cheese Pan Pizza (cardboard box)
2,718
Grains
Total phthalates per serving (nanograms)*
General Mills Cheerios Original (paperboard box with plastic bag inside)
10,980
Success 10 Minute Boil-in-Bag White Rice (paperboard box with plastic bag insdie)
4,308
Pepperidge Farm Farmhouse Hearty White Bread (plastic bag)
2,184
Infant Food
Total phthalates per serving (nanograms)*
Gerber Mealtime for Baby Harvest Turkey Dinner (glass with lined lid)
4,267
Similac Advance Infant Milk-Based Powder Formula (can)
4,202
Beech-Nut Fruities Pouch Pear, Banana & Raspberries (pouch)
2,826
Gerber Cereal for Baby Rice (plastic)
1,599
Happy Baby Organics Clearly Crafted Banana & Strawberries (glass with lined lid)
1,300
Happy Baby Organic Milk-Based Infant Powder Formula With Iron (plastic)
977
Gerber Organic for Baby Pouch Apple Zucchini Spinach Strawberry (pouch)
706
Meat and Poultry
Total phthalates per serving (nanograms)*
Perdue Ground Chicken Breast (plastic)
9,985
Trader Joe’s Ground Pork 80% Lean 20% Fat (plastic wrap)
5,503
Premio Foods Sweet Italian Sausage (foam tray with plastic wrap)
4,725
Libby’s Corned Beef (can)
4,088
Bar S Chicken Jumbo Franks (plastic)
3,295
Stop & Shop Ground Beef 80% Lean 20% Fat (foam tray with plastic wrap)
2,729
Applegate Naturals Oven Roasted Turkey Breast (plastic)
2,295
Swanson White Premium Chunk Chicken Breast (can)
1,376
Johnsonville Smoked Sausage Beef Hot Links (plastic)
912
Packaged Fruits and Vegetables
Total phthalates per serving (nanograms)*
Del Monte Sliced Peaches in 100% Fruit Juice (can)
24,928
Green Giant Cream Style Sweet Corn (can)
7,603
Del Monte Fresh Cut Italian Green Beans (can)
5,264
Progresso Vegetable Classics Vegetable Soup (can)
2,888
Birds Eye Steamfresh Cut Green Beans (plastic bag)
907
Hunt’s Tomato Sauce (can)
680
Prepared Meals
Total phthalates per serving (nanograms)*
Annie’s Organic Cheesy Ravioli (can)
53,579
Chef Boyardee Beefaroni Pasta in Tomato and Meat Sauce (can)
13,628
Banquet Chicken Pot Pie (paperboard)
12,494
Campbell’s Chunky Classic Chicken Noodle Soup (plastic)
6,768
Chef Boyardee Big Bowl Beefaroni Pasta in Meat Sauce (plastic)
5,064
Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup (can)
2,848
Red Baron Brick Oven Cheese-Trio Pizza (paperboard box with plastic wrap inside)
1,707
Seafood
Total phthalates per serving (nanograms)*
Chicken of the Sea Pink Salmon in Water Skinless Boneless (can)
24,321
King Oscar Wild Caught Sardines in Extra Virgin Olive Oil (can)
7,792
Snow’s Chopped Clams (can)
4,380
StarKist Wild Caught Light Tuna in Water (pouch)
1,735
StarKist Chunk Light Tuna in Water (can)
1,687
Season Brand Sardines in Water Skinless & Boneless (can)
1,258
*Includes the 10 phthalates we tested for: BBP, DBP, DiBP, DCHP, DEP, DEHP, DnHP, DMP, DiNP, and DNOP. We also tested for three chemicals used as phthalate substitutes (DEHA, DEHT, and DINCH), and three bisphenols (BPA, BPS, and BPF), which are not shown in this chart.