5 food packaging materials that can be harmful for your health

Do you often buy packaged foods from supermarkets? Here are health hazards of materials used for packaging foods that you buy.

Shraddha Rupavate | Updated: April 3, 2015 4:50 pm

Packaged foods are really beneficial for working couples and students who don’t find enough time to cook themselves. Many people choose to buy packaged foods because of their busy lifestyle, the ease of availability of packaged foods and minimal effort required in carrying them.

Packaging plays an important role in maintaining food quality and preventing bacterial contamination. It is not only important for better hygiene and convenience but also helps in extending shelf life of foods, and most importantly it helps to reduce food wastage to a great extent. Read more about causes, prevention and treatment of food poisoning.

However, experts and doctors do warn against the use of packaged foods due to the presence of various chemicals in packaging materials that can contaminate foods and lead to serious health consequences. Here are common packaging materials that have been associated with health hazards.

1. Glass: Glass is recognized as a safe packaging material by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) but a few types of glass bottles used for storing liquids may contain lead. Lead is a potent known neurotoxin and is known to interfere with several functions of the body. Prolonged exposure to high concentrations of lead can cause vomiting, poisoning, and liver and kidney damage. Read more about the impact of lead in paints on pregnant women.

The metal caps used on the top of glass bottles and jars are also known to release a chemical contaminant called phthalate which is linked to several disturbances in the hormonal (endocrine) system.

2. Energy drinks and beer cans: Those thin aluminum and tin cans used to store refreshing beverages contain ortho-phenylphenol, a pesticide that is used kill bacteria and fungus; it is known to be carcinogenic.

3. Plastic packaging: Plastic usage for packaging foods was the greatest controversy that food industry had to face. A petition was filed requesting the FDA to ban the use of plastic in packaging foods because of the presence of the chemical bisphenol A (BPA). BPA is linked to several adverse effects on the brain and reproductive health in children. Currently, the FDA is awaiting results from pending research on effects of BPA. Read more about the effect of BPA on oral health in children and its impact on brain development.

4. Plastics for juice and milk cartons: These packaging materials are called polyolefins .They contain benzophenone, a compound that mimics a female reproductive hormone estrogen and interferes with reproductive health of women. Read more about the health aspect of ready-made diet snacks.

5. Paper: Use of paper and cardboard boxes for packaging foods is also debatable. Studies have shown that printing ink from newspapers get leached into foods and may cause hormonal disturbances. Recycled paper boxes may be contaminated with diisobutyl phthalate and di-n-butyl phthalate which can cause digestion problems and severe toxicity.

References:

Jane Muncke, Health Issues of 21^st Century Food Packaging
Luz Claudio Our Food: Packaging & Public Health
Phthalates and food-contact materials: enforcing the 2008 European Union plastics legislation
Kellogg’s Cereal Recall Highlights a New Concern: Chemicals Leaching from Food Packaging

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Published: February 6, 2014 12:20 pm | Updated:April 3, 2015 4:50 pm

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