Have you ever bitten into an apple and thought, “Gee, I wonder where this apple has been?” You may have some idea of how food goes on long journeys from a farm to a store shelf before it reaches your mouth. What you may not know is that there is a chance for a certain unwanted ingredient to enter into your food, generating health concerns.
What Is This Pesky Substance?
This ingredient is known as a plasticizer: a chemical used to make plastic more flexible and stable. The most common plasticizers are called phthalates and bisphenols. Even at low levels, these chemicals create high health risks. Consumer Reports has shown that Americans consume a lot of these chemicals unknowingly and they continue to remain widespread in our food.
How Does Plastic Get Into Food?
Plastic sneaks itself into our food in many different ways. These include:
Environment: plastic trash, microplastics, production
Agriculture: animals, plastic mulch, plants
Processing: conveyor belts, plastic tubing, vinyl gloves
Packaging: bisphenols, plasticizers
All of these processes can produce various amounts of chemicals, depending on the product. Because plastic is so common in food and everywhere else, it really can’t be avoided. However, at what point do the levels become unsafe? As of now, it has been proven difficult for government regulators (US Food & Drug Administration, (FDA) to pinpoint a negative health threshold and create limits for what can be considered as “safe” in food. Therefore, there are no current FDA thresholds for these chemicals in food and FDA has stated that “plastics” are safe at the current levels occurring in foods.
How Can We Stay Away From Plastic Affecting Our Lives?
Fortunately, there are ways to reduce your exposure to plastics in your everyday life! Follow these steps and you may be able to avoid some of the risks:
Avoid plastic food storage containers
Keep your distance from fast food
Limit high-fat foods
Eat fresh, minimally processed food
Choose wood, stainless steel, and silicone for your kitchen essentials
Use water bottles made of steel or glass
Go fragrance-free
Lessen your use of plastic grocery bags and plastic straws
Limit your use of plastics in general in your everyday life
While a lot of these tips seem doable, some of them may seem a little unrealistic. Staying away from fast food definitely wouldn’t be easy! However, this problem isn’t going to be solved overnight. Undertaking these strategies is a continuous goal that will hopefully be presented through many people, and many companies. If each of us are aware of this world-wide issue, we can work together to eliminate the harmful outcomes.
Sources:
Friedman, L. (2024). Consumer Reports Magazine: How To Eat Less Plastic. (February 2024). Consumers Union.
U.S. Food & Drug (2023, April, 20) Bisphenol A (BPA): Use in Food Contact Application