Key Takeaways

Your last hamburger order may have come with an unexpected side of toxic chemicals.

Consumer Reportstested 118 food packaging products, including bags for French fries and molded fiber bowls for salads. The researchers found PFAS in some packaging from every retailer included in the study, even the ones that promote healthier practices such as Trader Joe’s and Cava.

Nearly a third of the products were found to have high levels of PFAS. In some instances, the researchers detected PFAS in companies’ food packaging even after they had promised to phase them out.

What Is PFAS?PFASdescribes a class of more than 4,700 chemicals which are used in products to make them resistant to water, oil, and heat. Manufacturers sometimes add PFAS to cardboard and paper food packaging to prevent oil, salad dressing, and other greasy liquids from seeping through. These forever chemicals can leach into food and contaminate water and soil when PFAS-treated packaging is thrown out. These chemicals linger in the environment forhundreds or thousands of years.

What Is PFAS?

PFASdescribes a class of more than 4,700 chemicals which are used in products to make them resistant to water, oil, and heat. Manufacturers sometimes add PFAS to cardboard and paper food packaging to prevent oil, salad dressing, and other greasy liquids from seeping through. These forever chemicals can leach into food and contaminate water and soil when PFAS-treated packaging is thrown out. These chemicals linger in the environment forhundreds or thousands of years.

PFAS exposure is linked to agrowing list of health problems, such as impaired kidney and thyroid function, an increased risk of developing several cancers, reduction of birthweight, immune system suppression, and more.

The EPA Finally Plans to Regulate Toxic, Widespread ‘Forever Chemicals’

How Did PFAS Wind Up in Food Packaging?

Food companies often rely on PFAS in paper or cardboard products because the oil- and heat-resistant properties of the chemicals help bowls and bags maintain their shape when loaded up with hot or greasy food.

How to Test for PFASThe simplest way to test for PFAS is to screen for total organic fluorine content in a product, since all PFAS contain some organic fluorine and there are few other sources for the compounds. While there are some tests to detect specific PFAS compounds, looking for organic fluorine allows researchers to test for levels of all PFAS, including those that haven’t yet been well studied.

How to Test for PFAS

The simplest way to test for PFAS is to screen for total organic fluorine content in a product, since all PFAS contain some organic fluorine and there are few other sources for the compounds. While there are some tests to detect specific PFAS compounds, looking for organic fluorine allows researchers to test for levels of all PFAS, including those that haven’t yet been well studied.

Nathan’s Famous had products with the highest average levels of PFAS, with Chick-fil-A following close behind.

Even companies that claim to be phasing out PFAS in certain products—such as Chipotle, Panera Bread, and Whole Foods Market—still had detectable organic fluorine in those items. Several of these companies said they didn’t intentionally add PFAS to their products, but the chemicals wind up there due to contamination in manufacturing and the use of recycled products that were originally made with PFAS, according to the report.

“To the person that ends up consuming the food that is contaminated with these PFAS, it doesn’t matter whether it was intentional or unintentional—the result is going to be the same,”Sydney Evans, a science analyst at Environmental Working Group, told Verywell.

“I understand that that represents a challenge. But that doesn’t mean that these manufacturers and the companies that are using these packaging products that are contaminated with PFAS don’t have a responsibility to pay attention to this, to be vigilant about it, and also to be transparent," Evans said.

PFAS Regulations Are Necessary

Current tests can detect about 30 specific PFAS compounds.Consumer Reportsresearchers sampled a portion of products and found that less than 1% of food packaging with organic fluorine was found to contain one of these well-known compounds.

Evans explained that the absence of these compounds suggests manufacturers may be replacing certain PFAS with other fluorinated compounds. These “regrettable substitutions” are not as well studied but can be just as detrimental to human health, she said.

Advocates for regulating PFAS maintain that it’s important to outlaw the use of the whole class of chemicals, rather than singling out specific chemicals.

“Adding PFAS to food packaging also releases these chemicals into the environment during manufacturing and when the packaging is thrown away,” Rebecca Fuoco, MPH, spokesperson for Green Science Policy Institute, said in an email to Verywell. “Cleaning up contamination will be expensive and take decades or more, if it’s even possible.”

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Despite identifying PFAS in many of the food packaging samples, the researchers also noted that several of the products had levels below the 20 ppm threshold. This suggests some food companies have found suitable alternatives to replace the toxic chemicals.

“PFAS in food packaging is used for grease resistance, which is a matter of convenience, not necessity,” Fuoco said. “There are non-fluorinated alternatives for grease- and water-resistance that many companies are already using, like packaging with wax or clay coatings.”

Next Steps for Minimizing PFAS Exposure

Advocacy organizations, particularlyToxic-Free Future, have beenpushingfor RBI to ban PFAS for years. Other fast-food companies, including Wendy’s and McDonald’s, have already banned PFAS from their products.

Evans said she is encouraged to see states and local governments setting allowable PFAS limits. Still, “a couple states isn’t enough—we need to see that on a national level,” she said.

“Unfortunately, PFAS are so ubiquitous that it’s not a problem you can shop your way out of,” Fuoco said. “It’s an impossible burden for consumers, which is why we need the government and industry to act.”

What This Means For YouIt’s difficult to avoid PFAS, given how prevalent they are in consumer products and the environment. To minimize your exposure from packaged food, you can:Eat fresh food rather than take-out or other packaged foodRemove food from packaging as soon as possibleReheat and store food in containers without PFAS, like those made of glass and stainless steel

What This Means For You

It’s difficult to avoid PFAS, given how prevalent they are in consumer products and the environment. To minimize your exposure from packaged food, you can:Eat fresh food rather than take-out or other packaged foodRemove food from packaging as soon as possibleReheat and store food in containers without PFAS, like those made of glass and stainless steel

It’s difficult to avoid PFAS, given how prevalent they are in consumer products and the environment. To minimize your exposure from packaged food, you can:

3 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Glüge J, Scheringer M, Cousins IT, et al.An overview of the uses of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Environ Sci Process Impacts. 2020;22(12):2345-2373. doi:10.1039/d0em00291gMuncke J, Andersson AM, Backhaus T, et al.Impacts of food contact chemicals on human health: a consensus statement.Environ Health.2020;19(1):25. doi:10.1186/s12940-020-0572-5Ramírez Carnero A, Lestido-Cardama A, Vazquez Loureiro P, et al.Presence of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in food contact materials (FCM) and its migration to food.Foods.2021;10(7);1443. doi:10.3390/foods10071443

3 Sources

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Glüge J, Scheringer M, Cousins IT, et al.An overview of the uses of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Environ Sci Process Impacts. 2020;22(12):2345-2373. doi:10.1039/d0em00291gMuncke J, Andersson AM, Backhaus T, et al.Impacts of food contact chemicals on human health: a consensus statement.Environ Health.2020;19(1):25. doi:10.1186/s12940-020-0572-5Ramírez Carnero A, Lestido-Cardama A, Vazquez Loureiro P, et al.Presence of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in food contact materials (FCM) and its migration to food.Foods.2021;10(7);1443. doi:10.3390/foods10071443

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Glüge J, Scheringer M, Cousins IT, et al.An overview of the uses of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Environ Sci Process Impacts. 2020;22(12):2345-2373. doi:10.1039/d0em00291gMuncke J, Andersson AM, Backhaus T, et al.Impacts of food contact chemicals on human health: a consensus statement.Environ Health.2020;19(1):25. doi:10.1186/s12940-020-0572-5Ramírez Carnero A, Lestido-Cardama A, Vazquez Loureiro P, et al.Presence of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in food contact materials (FCM) and its migration to food.Foods.2021;10(7);1443. doi:10.3390/foods10071443

Glüge J, Scheringer M, Cousins IT, et al.An overview of the uses of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Environ Sci Process Impacts. 2020;22(12):2345-2373. doi:10.1039/d0em00291g

Muncke J, Andersson AM, Backhaus T, et al.Impacts of food contact chemicals on human health: a consensus statement.Environ Health.2020;19(1):25. doi:10.1186/s12940-020-0572-5

Ramírez Carnero A, Lestido-Cardama A, Vazquez Loureiro P, et al.Presence of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in food contact materials (FCM) and its migration to food.Foods.2021;10(7);1443. doi:10.3390/foods10071443

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