Are Carry-Out Food Containers and Wrappers Toxic? There Are Alternatives.
Banana leaves, anyone?
“Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) put out a new advisory warning that even tiny amounts of some of PFAS chemicals found in drinking water may pose risks.” (1)
“Scientists are finding PFAS everywhere. When products like this end up in landfills, these pollutants seep into our soil, air, and drinking water. That's how PFAS are ending up in food, wildlife, and even our bloodstream.” (1)
“Short for "per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances," PFAS are a class of thousands of man-made chemicals that have been around since the 1940s. And as the nickname suggests, ‘forever chemicals’ are here for a long time. They don't break down, which has led to widespread contamination.” (1)
That “everywhere” in which PFAS chemicals are found include clothing, shoes, cosmetics, personal care products, furniture, cookware, carpets, and textiles.
Oh, and in disposable foodware and take-out packaging.
Here’s a news item: “Restaurant Industry May be Next Battleground in Fight over PFAS.” “(R)ecent suits against Burger King, McDonald’s, and Cava alleging the quick-service giants deceptively failed to notify customers about PFAS found in their products’ packaging suggest that PFAS litigation is quickly headed for the restaurant industry and is likely here to stay.” (2)
Modestly, I suggest a solution. (It’s a bit far-fetched on its face. But it IS a solution.)
We could package and serve food in entirely organic and environmentally friendly ways – if only we wished.
Leaves – banana leaves in particular – are widely used throughout the world. My wife and I have seen them and used them over the course of our travels.
Your meal comes wrapped in a banana leaf. You unfold it, and the leaf becomes a plate. Once you’re done eating, the leaf goes to compost. (No dish to wash, either!)
“(B)anana leaves are a packaging solution that has existed for thousands of years, still exists today, and that could benefit the environment by simply expanding their use to new areas.” (3)
(I ask, rhetorically – given all of the bananas we import and consume in this country, why not import the leaves as well?)
If you think about it – your grocer actually has leaves immediately at hand, for you to use today.
How about butter lettuce, red or green leaf lettuce, romaine lettuce, iceberg lettuce, collards, chard, or savoy cabbage? (4) Or bok choy, or even seaweed or kelp?
Some fast foods lend themselves more readily to leaves-as-packaging than others, of course. How about tacos or burritos? (Can you imagine Taco Bell products being wrapped and served in lettuce?)
How about pieces of poultry or fish being wrapped in lettuce? Or finger food, like fries? (One could use lettuce leaves to serve brats and hot dogs, too, I suppose. But don’t get me going on what’s in brats and hot dogs.)
Okay, okay, leaf wraps don’t exactly lend themselves to burgers. (Unless they’re banana leaves. Picture this as a splashy futuristic ad: “Big Macs go Bananas!”)
Nothing requires people to eat the packaging, of course. (If you don’t like or want it, then compost it!)
Paper is another alternative. Here’s a list of paper-based food packaging products. (5) (Gee, I’m so old that I actually remember Mom wrapping school lunch sandwiches in wax paper!)
Finally, I’m back at PFAS, the forever/everywhere chemicals now thought to be toxic in minute amounts.
Here’s a list of PFAS-free products. (6)
Lettuce leave it at that.
Sources:
(1) https://www.npr.org/2022/06/22/1106863211/the-dangers-of-forever-chemicals
(2) https://www.qsrmagazine.com/outside-insights/restaurant-industry-may-be-next-battleground-fight-over-pfas
(3) https://inhabitat.com/packaging-the-future-banana-leaves-as-natural-packaging/
(4) https://vegfaqs.com/best-lettuce-for-lettuce-wraps/
(5) https://www.webstaurantstore.com/guide/587/types-of-food-wrapping-paper.html