Potentially dangerous levels of plastic chemicals are “pervasive” in popular foods such as Cheerios, Coca-Cola and Gerber cereal, a report says. report.
Consumer Reports, a nonprofit advocacy group, tested 85 food items sold at supermarkets and fast food chains and found some level of plastic chemicals in 84 of them.
Chemicals called “plasticizers” or phthalates penetrate primarily through packaging materials and can cause cancer, infertility, birth defects, obesity, and other serious health problems. the report states.
The group is calling on federal authorities to ban the use of phthalates.
The product with the highest plastic content was Yoplait's Original Low Fat French Vanilla. Ben & Jerry's vanilla ice cream. Wendy's Crispy Chicken Nuggets. Burger King Whopper. General Mills Original Cheerios. Perdue ground chicken breast and Del Monte sliced peaches, according to the report.
None of the levels exceed U.S. standards deemed unsafe by regulators, according to the report, but scientists say any level of plastic in food can be dangerous.
Previous efforts to reduce consumers' exposure to plastic have “focused on packaging,” the publication said. “But phthalates, in particular, can enter through plastics in tubing, conveyor belts and gloves used during food processing, and even directly into meat and produce through contaminated water and soil. It became clear that it was possible.”
Chemicals can also contaminate food through lined metal cans or plastic wrap, according to the report.
Consumer Reports noted that some packaging products have very low levels of plastic contamination compared to competing products. For example, Pizza Hut's original pan pizza contained half the amount of plastic as Domino's hand-tossed cheese pizza.
“Beech Nut Fruity Pouch Pear, Banana, Raspberry” also had half the amount of plastic as the Gerber Meal Time in Baby Harvest Turkey Dinner.
Meanwhile, Polar Springs' seltzer was found to be free of contaminants.
“This shows that while these chemicals are prevalent, there are ways to reduce the amount of them in our food,” said James, who is responsible for overseas product safety testing at CR.・Mr. Rogers stated.
