An unprecedented study on the initiative of nine European non-governmental organizations published this Thursday, May 20, 2021, warns of the presence of substances harmful to health and the environment in food packaging mainly used in fast food restaurants.
Harmful substances present in food packaging of fast food restaurants
Nine European non-governmental organizations including the French NGO Générations futures conducted a survey on harmful compounds in food packaging across six European countries (Germany, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic). To conduct their analytics campaign, NGOs targeted fast food outlets (such as McDonald’s, Dunkin Donuts and Domino’s Pizza), take-out restaurants, supermarkets and online food packaging companies.
In total, NGOs collected 99 samples between May and December 2020. Among the samples, we find mainly food packaging and disposable tableware made of paper, cardboard and molded plant fibers. Results, ” traces of PFAS were detected in all samples selected for laboratory analysis “. Out of 42 food packages analyzed in laboratories, the report even indicates that ” 32 samples, including packaging from major global restaurant chains, were intentionally treated with PFAS “.
PFAS, “eternal chemicals” harmful to health and the environment
PFAS, poly and perfluoroalkylated substances, are widely used in the industrial sector for their non-stick and stain resistant “qualities”. However, these chemicals have persistent harmful effects on health and the environment, as the NGO report indicates: “ the presence of these chemicals in food packaging in very large quantities and for a use of only a few minutes, creates a lot of waste containing these worrying substances, polluting the environment and accumulating throughout the food chain “. So much so that toxicologists have renamed them ” forever chemicals Which can be translated as “eternal chemicals”.
In fact, perfluoroalkylated substances, or PFAS, which accumulate in the body, are known to decrease the immune response to vaccination, to have an impact on cholesterol or to be linked to cancer or obesity. The report even states that “ the ecotoxicity test performed confirmed that the PFAS present in the food packaging samples tested had the potential to create thyroid hormone imbalances “.
NGOs demand the cessation of these chemicals for certain uses
Faced with this observation, the NGOs at the instigation of the investigation are calling on the European Union to stop “ the use of PFAS for all applications that are not essential to the health, safety and functioning of the company “. In this sense, the NGOs explain that “ their use in food packaging and disposable tableware is an example of such avoidable uses “.
In a statement, Jitka Strakova, lead author of the study and scientific advisor to Arnika said: “ It is high time for the European Union to act and immediately and permanently ban the entire class of PFAS in food packaging, in order to protect consumers in the first place. “.
