>> Yet some products had much lower levels than others. A serving of Pizza Hut’s Original Cheese Pan Pizza, for example, had half the phthalate levels of a similar pizza from Little Caesars. Levels varied even among products from the same brand: Chef Boyardee Big Bowl Beefaroni pasta in meat sauce had less than half the level of the company’s Beefaroni pasta in tomato and meat sauce.
This is also surprising, seeing how Chipotle will prepare the food in front of you.
Preparing the food in front of you does not take into account all of the steps along the manufacturing chain. So maybe it should not be that surprising if everything is stored in plastic tubs, bins, and jars right up until they prepare it.
I try to buy only end products in glass jars, but I know full well that the ingredients and even final product can be stored in plastic all along the way before it is packaged in its final form and sent to the store. Still, I try to buy in glass jars because I haven't fully given in. I figure something that might sit on the shelf still for months could in fact get worse by being in plastic instead of glass, so I will still go for the glass.
Let’s say we eventually get accurate measures of what is a healthy amount of plastics versus harmful amount. Let’s pretend the law is updated so that food manufacturers must limit the number of microplastics to a healthy level.
Does that capability even exist? How can food manufacturers actually control microplastics in their products? The report said even canned products have microplastic, so I think it’s more than just the final packaging.
I think the issue with canned products is still mostly about the packaging; cans generally have a plastic lining/coating that is meant to prevent their contents from reacting with the metal. Unfortunately, this is also true of metal lids on glass jars. This is even true of the lids used for home canning!
I think the capability exists (we had cans and jars before we had these chemicals), but both industry norms and likely consumer expectations must shift. E.g. suppose you had new processes which could cool food in a sterile environment before filling cans -- then could cans do with an organic wax liner?
>> Yet some products had much lower levels than others. A serving of Pizza Hut’s Original Cheese Pan Pizza, for example, had half the phthalate levels of a similar pizza from Little Caesars. Levels varied even among products from the same brand: Chef Boyardee Big Bowl Beefaroni pasta in meat sauce had less than half the level of the company’s Beefaroni pasta in tomato and meat sauce.
This is also surprising, seeing how Chipotle will prepare the food in front of you.
>> Chipotle Chicken Burrito (aluminum foil)20,579ng
Other notable:
>> Juicy Juice 100% Juice Apple (cardboard box)2,260 ng
>> Land O’Lakes Butter Salted (paper wrap/cardboard)581 ng
>> Trader Joe’s Ground Pork 80% Lean 20% Fat (plastic wrap)5,503 ng
>> Annie’s Organic Cheesy Ravioli (can)53,579 ng
FTW! BBQ all day.
>> Sweet Baby Ray’s Barbecue Sauce Original (plastic)22 ng