Test results from the Food and Drug Administration on food with high levels of fluorinated chemicals known as PFAS were dismissed by two high level officials of the FDA.
The testing comes after EWG and the Environmental Defense Fund found PFAS in meat, seafood, dairy products; sweet potatoes; pineapples; leafy greens, and chocolate cake with icing.
“Based on the available current science, the FDA does not have any indication that these substances are a human health concern and do not pose a food safety risk in human food at the levels FDA found in the samples it tested,” acting FDA Commissioner Ned Sharpless and Deputy Commissioner Frank Yiannas said in a statement on the issue.
PFAS can get into crops through contaminated water or by being planted in contaminated soil.
“Americans are exposed to toxic PFAS through drinking water, air, everyday products, and through food,” said EWG senior scientist David Andrews. “There is growing evidence that people are already exposed to PFAS at levels that are causing harm, and that food is a major route of exposure. Suggesting that the levels FDA found in a few food samples render the food supply safe, simply ignores the significant role that food plays in our overall PFAS body burden. FDA routinely underestimates the risks chemicals pose, especially the risks posed by food chemicals that migrate from food packaging into food, including PFAS chemicals. FDA should be fighting to reduce our exposure to toxic PFAS, not papering over the risks. FDA should ban the use of PFAS in packaging and demand testing of sewage sludge before it’s applied to farm fields.”
