Health & Medicine
How Dangerous are Food Packaging Chemicals?
Kathleen Lees
First Posted: Feb 20, 2014 10:21 AM EST
Most of us probably don't think twice about eating processed foods. We automatically trust the manufacturers, and assume that these products are safe to consume. Yet a recent paper written by scientists investigates the usage of toxic chemical found in many packaging materials. According to scientist Jane Muncke of the Food Packaging Forum Foundation in Zurich, Switzerland, it is possible for some of these chemicals to seep into our food and cause long-term damage to our health.
The authors of the paper titled "Food packaging and migration of food contact materials: will epidemiologists rise to the neotoxic challenge?" looks at the use of formaldehyde in many of these products-a substance that's classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) and International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as being known to carry human carcinogens that increase the risk of sinus cancer and leukemia. This compound is used in many products, including melamine tableware and fizzy-drink bottles.
At this time, the researchers note that little is known about the long-term impact of chronic exposure to food contact materials (FCMs).
"These facts may be of relevance to scientists interested in the developmental origins of health and disease hypothesis (DOHaD), life-course effects of in utero and childhood environmental exposures, plasticity, epigenetics and related processes," researchers note, via a press release.
They add that, for formaldehyde in particular, a substance that's legally used in food contact materials (FCMs): "Whereas the science for some of these substances is being debated and policy makers struggle to satisfy the needs of stakeholders, consumers remain exposed to these chemicals daily, mostly unknowingly."
According to background information from the study, the number of chemical substances intentionally used in FCMs is over 4,000.
Yet some scientists have criticized the report, stating that although formaldehyde is a carcinogen, it is found naturally in some foods.
"To consume as much formaldehyde as is present in a 100-gram apple, you would need to drink at least 20 litres of mineral water that had been stored in PET [polyethylene terephthalate] bottles," said Iam Musgrame, a senior lecturer in the medicine faculty at the University of Adelaide in Australia. "Obviously the concern about formaldehyde from food packaging is significantly overrated, unless we are willing to place 'potential cancer hazard' stickers on fresh fruit and vegetables."
What do you think?
More information regarding the discussion can be seen via the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
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First Posted: Feb 20, 2014 10:21 AM EST
Most of us probably don't think twice about eating processed foods. We automatically trust the manufacturers, and assume that these products are safe to consume. Yet a recent paper written by scientists investigates the usage of toxic chemical found in many packaging materials. According to scientist Jane Muncke of the Food Packaging Forum Foundation in Zurich, Switzerland, it is possible for some of these chemicals to seep into our food and cause long-term damage to our health.
The authors of the paper titled "Food packaging and migration of food contact materials: will epidemiologists rise to the neotoxic challenge?" looks at the use of formaldehyde in many of these products-a substance that's classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) and International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as being known to carry human carcinogens that increase the risk of sinus cancer and leukemia. This compound is used in many products, including melamine tableware and fizzy-drink bottles.
At this time, the researchers note that little is known about the long-term impact of chronic exposure to food contact materials (FCMs).
"These facts may be of relevance to scientists interested in the developmental origins of health and disease hypothesis (DOHaD), life-course effects of in utero and childhood environmental exposures, plasticity, epigenetics and related processes," researchers note, via a press release.
They add that, for formaldehyde in particular, a substance that's legally used in food contact materials (FCMs): "Whereas the science for some of these substances is being debated and policy makers struggle to satisfy the needs of stakeholders, consumers remain exposed to these chemicals daily, mostly unknowingly."
According to background information from the study, the number of chemical substances intentionally used in FCMs is over 4,000.
Yet some scientists have criticized the report, stating that although formaldehyde is a carcinogen, it is found naturally in some foods.
"To consume as much formaldehyde as is present in a 100-gram apple, you would need to drink at least 20 litres of mineral water that had been stored in PET [polyethylene terephthalate] bottles," said Iam Musgrame, a senior lecturer in the medicine faculty at the University of Adelaide in Australia. "Obviously the concern about formaldehyde from food packaging is significantly overrated, unless we are willing to place 'potential cancer hazard' stickers on fresh fruit and vegetables."
What do you think?
More information regarding the discussion can be seen via the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone