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A cancer-related poisonous chemical has been discovered in some fast food giant packaging such as McDonald’s and Burger King, as well as in fashionable salad chains such as Sweetgreen and Cava.
A crusade published Thursday through the Environmental Teams Ecology Center, Mind the Store and Toxic-Free Future analyzed 38 food packaging samples in six chains to detect PFAS or per and polyfluoroalchy substances. Almost some of the samples tested positive in fluoride grades, indicating that the packaging contained PFAS.
PFAS are an elegance of chemicals that have been linked to cancer, liver damage, thyroid diseases and developmental problems. Most other people are exposed to PFAS when eating infected foods or drinks. As a result, PFAS can be discovered in the bloodstream of 99% of Americans.
The study published Thursday found that the frying bags at Burger King, McDonald’s and Wendy’s probably contained PFAS. McDonald’s Big Mac cardboard boxes were probably also treated with PFAS, as one of the samples taken from a Burger King Whopper package.
According to the study, all the bowls of Cava, Freshii and Sweetgreen probably included PFAS. The meter reported in 2019 that many of those “compostable” bowls used through fast casual chains, which were positioned as an eco-friendly option for plastic, involve PFAS.
In general, almost part of the 38 packaging samples analyzed in the six chains were analyzed above the fluoride level of one hundred ppm, which environmental equipment uses to detect PFAS. Major compostability certifiers do not certify new parts as compostables if they contain more than one hundred ppm of total fluoride.
There has been tension to end new corporate laws and policies in the use of PFAS.
“PFAS can persist in water and air for thousands of years, so eating or breathing them means they can stay within the framework of life, hence their nickname ‘chemicals forever’,” says Aria Bendix of Business Insider.
Last week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that it had reached a voluntary agreement with 3 primary food packaging manufacturers to eliminate the use of PFAS.
“This action follows new knowledge analysis that has raised questions about the potential dangers to human fitness related to chronic food exposure, effects that warrant further study,” the FDA said in a statement. “This elimination balances uncertainty about potential public physical fitness hazards by minimizing potential disruptions in the food packaging supply chain market, the PUBLIC fitness emergency COVID-19.”
Negative reactions opposed to PFAS, led through environmental groups, have triggered actions among the primary chains.
CNN reports that Cava, Sweetgreen and Freshii have announced plans to remove PFAS from food packaging in the coming months. Cava told Business Insider that it plans to remove PFAS from food packaging until mid-2021. Sweetgreen told Business Insider that it plans to implement pfAS-free compositional bowls until the end of the year.
“We originally brought compostable boxes to have a positive effect on the food ecosystem, however, given the considerations surrounding PFAS, we have begun to work with new and existing suppliers, as well as independent protection capable of placing a more sustainable and compostable solution. solution, ” said Sweetgreen in a statement.
“We look to the future to extend our safe elements policy with the removal of the recently known short-term PFAS through the FDA,” a Burger King representative told Business Insider. “We will work with our suppliers to remove them from all packaging before or, if possible, before the 3 years advised by the FDA.”
McDonald’s said it was also taking action, noting that “the protection and well-being of our communities is our most sensitive priority.”
“We have removed subsets of PFAS from McDonald’s food packaging worldwide,” McDonald’s said in a statement. “We know there is more progress to be made in the industry and we are exploring opportunities with our supplier partners to move further forward.”