Study Shows Fast Food Wrappers Still Harbor Potentially Dangerous Chemicals
Feb. 28, 2017
Grease resistant packaging contains fluorine, a building block of cancer-causing PFCs.
A new study reports that one third of the packaging collected from Burger King, McDonald’s, Starbucks and other fast food outlets contains chemicals deemed to be dangerous by the Food and Drug Administration, according to an article from the Orlando Sentinel. The packaging tested reportedly contained fluorine, a major building block of perfluorinated chemicals, or PFCs, which break down in the body to a cancer-causing chemical known as PFOA that stays in the bloodstream for years.
According to the article, many of the major fast food chains pledged to stop using the chemicals and manufacturers began phasing them out. Last year, the FDA reportedly banned the use of three PFCs in food packaging. The varied findings could mean that the restaurants are obtaining their packaging from different suppliers, some of which use alternative methods to make the paper grease-resistant, according to the article. The presence of the banned chemicals reportedly may have come from recycled paper.
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