Microplastics shed by food packaging are contaminating our food, study finds

Summary

Facebook Tweet Email Link Ripping the plastic wrap from the meat or prepackaged fruit and veggies you purchased at the grocery store may contaminate your food with micro- and nanoplastics, according to new research. Plastic contamination may also occur when you’re unwrapping deli meat and cheese, steeping a tea bag in hot water, or opening cartons of milk or orange juice. Glass bottles and jars with a plastic-coated metal closure may also shed microscopic bits of plastic, the study found. In fact, the abrasion from repeatedly opening and closing the caps on glass and plastic bottles can release an untold amount of micro- and nanoplastics into the beverage, said Lisa Zimmermann, lead author of the study published Tuesday in the journal NPJ Science of Food. “The research shows the number of microplastics increases with each bottle opening, so therefore we can say it’s the usage of the food contact article which leads to micro- and nanoplastic release,” said Zimmermann, scientific communication officer at the Food Packaging Forum, a nonprofit foundation based in Zurich, Switzerland, that studies chemicals in food contact materials. Researchers have measured micro- and nanoplastics in such food and drink products as beer, canned fish, rice, mineral water, tea bags, table salts, take-out foods and soft drinks, according to the study. “This is the first systematic evidence of how normal and intended use of foodstuffs packaged in plastics can be contaminated with micro- and nanoplastics,” Zimmermann said. “We found food packaging is actually a direct source of the micro- and nanoplastics measured in food.” A separate investigation by the Food Packaging Forum published in September 2024 found more than 3,600 chemicals leach into consumer products during food manufacturing, processing, packaging and storage, ending up in the human body. Seventy-nine of those food-processing chemicals are known to cause cancer, genetic mutations, endocrine and reproductive issues, and other h...