Scientists just figured out how many chemicals enter our bodies from food packaging

Bell@lemmy.world to News@lemmy.world – 67 points –
washingtonpost.com

A new study details the chemicals finding their way into human bodies from contact with food.

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wow. the fact that they're finding these chemicals in Placental and Amniotic fluid is nuts

And then the chemicals themselves are just... a list of some very nasty things

I'm reminded of the Propublica article that blew the lid off the fact that 3M's PFAS accumulates in our tissues and causes cancer.

At the time, Johnson said, he didn’t think PFOS caused significant health problems. Still, he told me, “it was obviously bad,” because man-made compounds from household products didn’t belong in the human body. He said that he argued against using fluorochemicals in toothpaste and diapers. (...) “These idiots were already putting it in food packaging,” he said.

This is great information. And what can I do about it?

Are you rich enough to only use glass containers and do all of your food shopping locally at farmers’ markets? Because if not… stop drinking beverages out of plastic bottles. I’m in the same boat.

But it arrives in plastic. Ok, theoretically I could drink straight from the tap, which in my house uses copper lines, but my water tastes like ass. So I either filter it or buy gallon jugs. Both are plastic.

Also glass containers need lids and those are usually plastic.

A lot of times, matters such as these should be seen as more risk management/reduction than risk elimination. A plastic lid has much less contact area than a whole plastic bottle, and single use bottles tend to shed more microplastics than reusable ones.

Man I really hate having my food in plastics, I always have, but think about it. Meat comes in cellophane, cerial is in a plastic bag as are chips and other processed foods. Even something healthy like peanuts comes in a plastic jar. Virtually all food comes like that. I sweat a lot outside and I need a gluten free version of an electrolyte drink. I dare you to find one that comes without a plastic bottle. It feels like cutting out water in plastic bottles is a drop in the ocean.

Oh yeah, it's pretty terrible. Sometimes you can order meat from a deli/butcher counter and get it wrapped in wax paper but there's the extra time spent to order it that way, and there's a possibility that the wax is actually just plastic lining anyways.

Regardless, if you can find an alternative that works for you, any reduction in plastic is a good thing. It all exists on a sliding scale.

Started using factor meals, pre-cooked meals that you reheat in the microwave/oven in their plastic containers. I guess I will start transferring the food into something else to reheat it 😬

The packaging (and small menu) is why I quit using them.

They already heated it for you(kills bacteria) before shipping