Unwrapping the Unseen Chemicals in Food Packaging: Why It Matters

In today’s world, food packaging has become a necessity to keep our food fresh and safe for a longer period of time. Behind the convenience of modern packaging, there’s an unseen risk: hidden chemicals migrating from packaging into food. These are called food contact chemicals (FCCs). Although packaging helps protect food in its journey to reach us safely, it can also be a source of exposure to potentially toxic chemicals. Let’s break this down and understand why it matters for all of us.

What Are Food Contact Chemicals?

Food contact chemicals (FCCs) are a class of chemicals that are used in the materials coming in direct contact with food. This not only includes plastics and paper used for packaging but also covers utensils and equipment used for food processing. While many chemicals are added intentionally to these materials, such as making plastics more flexible or preventing food from sticking to their surfaces, there is a rising concern about NIAS (non-intentionally added substances). This means those chemicals which accidentally end up in the packaging materials during production or as a result of contamination by manufacturer by-products. They often are not revealed or even known.

In a recent study that aggregated the results of more than 1,200 research papers, scientists found a rather startling revelation – the majority of the chemicals in food packaging are not listed as being used. Of the 12,000 chemicals known to be used in food contact, only a tiny percent is actually listed in the regulatory databases. That leaves thousands of unlisted and unregulated chemicals making their way into our food and onto our plates!

This is a concern because many of these chemicals have never been tested for safety, and some have been deemed to be toxic to our health. For instance, bisphenols and phthalates are some of these unlisted chemicals, and they both are known to interfere with human hormones and have been linked to health problems like cancer and infertility. It begs the question of how much we are exposed to within our food system and what are the long-term effects of exposure to these chemicals.

How Chemicals Get into Our Food

Migration is the process by which chemicals can move from packaging into our food. Temperature is one factor that can contribute to this, anyone who has microwaved their food in a plastic container might intuitively suspect – that the container may soften or slightly melt, which should raise some concern about potential chemical leaching from the container to the food. The type of food and the length of time the food is in contact with the packaging also impact the degree to which chemicals leach from packaging into our food. 

Food with a high-fat content, such as meat or cheese, is more susceptible to contamination from plastic food packaging. One should never wrap fatty food in plastic, or microwave food in a plastic container, because harmful chemicals and other toxic additives may be released from the plastic into the food. The worst problem is that these harmful chemicals can accumulate in the fatty tissue of humans and animals, and have harmful impacts on our health.

The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, a treaty between 186 countries to protect human health and the environment has banned many of these chemicals such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), Bisphenol A (BPA), as well as by-products of plastic production such as polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDD/PCDF), and polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs). However, some countries like the United States signed the Stockholm Convention in 2001, but have yet to ratify it, so those banned chemicals are still being used.

Creating a comprehensive table of unregulated chemicals found in food packaging is challenging because many of these chemicals are not officially listed in regulatory databases, and their presence is often discovered through research. However, studies have identified several chemicals of concern. Below is a table summarizing some known unregulated food contact chemicals found in food packages, their abbreviations, and their potentially harmful effects.

The scariest part is that it does not just happen with the known chemicals but also with those that are hidden, and unlisted. A recent study highlights that 65% of the chemicals detected had never been intentionally used in packaging!

Tellspecopedia

Tellspecopedia is an online Android App developed by Tellspec that provides detailed information about various chemical substances, contaminants, and food additives. It is designed to educate consumers, researchers, and professionals about the potential health effects, uses, and safety concerns related to different substances commonly found in food.

Tellspecopedia App features an easy-to-navigate database where users can search for specific chemicals, learn about their properties, and understand how these substances might affect health and wellness. It plays a key role in promoting transparency and awareness about food safety and chemical exposure, aligning with Tellspec’s broader mission of providing real-time data and analysis on the composition of substances.

Plastics: The Biggest Culprit

Plastic has been by far the most studied material in relation to chemical migration into food since it is the most used substance in food packaging.The results are astonishing: nearly 2,000 different food-contact chemicals have been identified within plastics. Consequently, they are the greatest source of chemical exposure: not just single-use plastics, but materials like polypropylene and polyethylene are regularly used throughout packaging.

What’s even more disturbing is that some chemicals-including those that are applied to packaging to make it water and grease-resistant, like polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are turning up in food even though they aren’t supposed to even be ingredients in packaging materials.

Transparency Is Key

A big challenge with addressing this issue is the complete lack of transparency: many chemicals are not declared and their use may be intentional and a simple result of manufacturing by-products; thus, assessing their existence is very hard. This makes it hard for consumers to make informed choices about what they’re exposed to. Presently, regulations around food contact materials are fragmented and inconsistent across the globe, making tracking and controlling hazardous chemicals’ presence in food packaging hard.

Moving Forward: What Can Be Done?

  • Development of Safer Materials: There is a need for more ingenuity in the formulation of packaging materials that will not necessarily depend on dangerous chemicals.
  • Tighter Regulations: There is a need for relevant authorities to come up with more comprehensive regulations covering IAS as well as NIAS.
  • Greater customer awareness means the customer would be more knowledgeable; the more a customer can learn about what their food is packaged in, the better the choices. The packaging materials could include glass, stainless steel, and maybe even BPA-free plastics. 
  • Funding Alternatives for Non-Toxic, Biodegradable, and Sustainable Packaging; Increased investment and support for the development of innovative packaging solutions, such as the onion skin-based materials, which are non-toxic, biodegradable, and sustainable. This includes promoting research initiatives, offering grants, and fostering partnerships between governments, private sectors, and research institutions to accelerate the adoption of these environmentally friendly packaging alternatives.

The best way to find out whether a plastic product contains chemicals is by requesting this information from the product manufacturer. Reading the ingredients list on a product label won’t normally tell you what’s in the plastic. For example, reading the ingredients list on a bottle with food tells you about the ingredients in the food, not about the ingredients in the plastic bottle. To find out this information, you could contact the food manufacturer.

Conclusion

Food packaging, while indispensable in our modern lives, requires one to be aware of the risks hidden in it. Particularly unlisted chemicals in food-contact materials represent the big unknowns in our equation of food safety. Pushing for greater transparency and safer alternatives reduces our exposure to these harmful substances and furthers a future that is much safer and healthier for all.


Reference

Geueke, B., Groh, K.J., Maffini, M.V., Martin, O.V., Boucher, J.M., Chiang, Y.T., Gwosdz, F., Jieh, P., Kassotis, C.D., Łańska, P., Myers, J.P., Odermatt, A., Parkinson, L.V., Schreier, V.N., Srebny, V., Zimmermann, L., Scheringer, M., & Muncke, J. (2023). Systematic evidence on migrating and extractable food contact chemicals: Most chemicals detected in food contact materials are not listed for use. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 63(28), 9425-9435. https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2022.2067828

Groh, K. J., et al. (2019). Overview of known and unknown substances in food packaging: Potential implications for human health. Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, 18(6), 1432-1456.

Muncke, J. (2020). Unwrapping food packaging: Chemicals in food packaging and their impact on public health. Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology, 30, 110-123.

Stocker, J., et al. (2021). Chemical migration from packaging into food: European regulatory framework and risk assessment challenges. Food Packaging and Shelf Life, 27, 100608.

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