Plastic films, cardboard boxes and other boxes that condition our food contain harmful chemicals, some of which are found in food.

They are used to contain foodstuffs and to protect them from any degradation or external contamination. To do this, food packaging is made up of materials from which certain chemical components can migrate into food. Worse, on these boxes, cartons and other plastic films are printed colored logos, whose inks can also spread in the contents.

Cereal manufacturers have already begun to modify the packaging of their products. Indeed, Swiss researchers from the Food Safety Laboratory in Zurich found that the recycled cardboard used to make the packages contained mineral oils, capable of passing through the packaging and spreading into the food. But breakfast cereals would not be the only products concerned. According to the study published online in the journal Packaging and Technology Science, pasta and rice could present the same risk.

A study by the Food Packaging Forum (FPF) points to certain substances including phthalates, commonly used to soften plastics, and whose effects on certain neurological conditions are feared. Above all, it underlines the extent to which European or national regulations are having a hard time regulating this subject.
In many cases, we must admit our ignorance of the danger that the presence of certain substances in food may represent. In 2012, the number of products shifted from packaging to product was estimated at 100,000 according to Tabula, the journal of the Swiss Nutrition Society; 1500 of them to date have been certified as toxic.

In 2014, the FPF screened existing lists of potentially affected substances. These scientists identified 175 chemical components, involved in the manufacture of packaging, and known either to have carcinogenic or mutagenic effects or to impact the reproductive or endocrine system; 21 are classified as substances of very high concern, according to the European regulation of REACH chemicals.

Since then, several studies have been carried out in the world. One of the most recent published in the Environmental Science & Technology Letters reveals that in one third of the 400 American fast food packages collected, researchers at the Silent Spring Institute have found persistent fluorinated compounds useful for making non-stick surfaces but also carcinogens .

The criticism of the 2014 study was that it did not demonstrate the migration of incriminated substances into food. The FPF researchers then plunged back into the scientific literature to focus on ten substances of very high concern. As a result, five packages are actually spreading in the food.

Substitutes equally decried

Finding alternative compounds to the most harmful substances has hitherto been the path to follow. But substitute substances also have little known effects. Example: Bisphenol A (BPA), an endocrine disruptor present in food plastics, now largely banned. However, a study published on February 28 in Nature Communications shows that BPA substitutes induce gestation problems, at least in mice.

Solution

In Switzerland, for example, they check that the food does not contain too much contaminants from the inks used in cardboard packaging. But changing the whole production chain of recycled paper is very difficult, if not impossible, because it would have to be traced back to the first producers of printed matter.

The packaging companies do not remain idle because it is also in their interest. For example, they have introduced regulations on phthalates, which have made it possible to reduce their use considerably.

Many efforts are being made in the retail trade to limit the use of packaging, particularly food.
Many bulk shops have been established throughout Europe where buyers bring their own containers for grain, pulses and other dried fruits.
In general supermarkets, the trend is still difficult to impose, apart from the traditional range of fruits, vegetables and nuts.

Unfortunately, we are surrounded by dangerous products for our body and the planet. This is another reason to worry about our health and our environment and try to limit the damage to our level.