Nearly 10,000 Chemicals Leaching into Food from Plastic Containers

 A new study in the journal Environmental Science and Technology suggests that thousands of chemicals, a significant proportion of which scientists know nothing about, are leaching into foods from plastic containers.

“We found as many as 9,936 different chemicals in a single plastic product used as food packaging,” said study co-author Professor Martin Wagner, in a media release.

Significant numbers of these chemicals, like bisphenol A and phthalates, are linked to a variety of health problems, from reproductive issues to diabetes and even heart disease and forms of cancer.

Many of the chemicals, however, are totally unknown to science....<<<Read More>>>...

Why is food wrapped in plastic inside plastic?

[Mercola]: In the U.S., plastic is still largely considered to be an integral and necessary part of daily life. A stroll through any grocery store will reveal this unhealthy plastic dependence not only in the form of plastic grocery bags but also in the food packaging itself.

Fresh produce, which comes in its own biodegradable “packaging,” is often wrapped in plastic or bundled into plastic bags and containers. Ears of corn come shucked and wrapped in Styrofoam and plastic; garlic cloves are peeled and shrink wrapped; even apples are sliced and packaged in baggies.

Everything from nuts and cheese to milk and lettuce comes encased in plastic. Sometimes, the food is wrapped in plastic and then put inside another plastic bag or container.

It’s said that plastic bags tend to be used for an average of 12 minutes, but can take 500 to 1,000 years to break down in the environment. While some stores and cities have made moves to ban plastic bags, this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to reducing plastic waste....read more>>>...