Cheeseburgers, hen burritos and different meat merchandise had the very best phthalate/plasticizer content material, with a lot larger DEHT ranges detected in burritos than in burgers.
On the upside, cheese pizzas have been among the many least contaminated meals, whereas French fries have been discovered to be DEHT-free.
As a result of not all of those chemical substances have been completely studied, the exact hurt they could pose to human well being isn’t totally clear, the staff acknowledged.
However Edwards cautioned that till researchers get a greater deal with on the danger concerned, customers ought to know that “it’s not solely [about] processed meals” at quick meals chains — any meals that is dealt with in any restaurant setting might be uncovered to such chemical substances, she famous.
With that in thoughts, Edwards stated higher oversight is required, including that she hopes “our work can be utilized by policymakers to assist create stronger laws to maintain phthalates and substitute plasticizers out of our meals.”
In the meantime, one factor that individuals can do to restrict potential danger is to “eat decrease on the meals chain.” That, stated Edwards, mainly means limiting meat consumption.
“Nevertheless, we acknowledge that this technique to cut back publicity isn’t all the time accessible to everybody,” she added. So, she and her colleagues level to their very own prior analysis, which means that dwelling cooking is the safer wager, since folks have a tendency to not use problematic plastic gloves, packaging and the like when prepping meals in their very own kitchen.
That is a technique echoed by Lona Sandon, program director of the division of scientific diet at UT Southwestern Medical Heart in Dallas.
“Many quick meals chains depend on meats, hen and fish or different meals which can be preformed, partially cooked, then frozen, packaged in plastic, and shipped to the restaurant web site to be completed on the time of order,” Sandon famous. “This offers loads of time for these meals to take a seat wrapped in plastic.”
And even comparatively wholesome meals choices should not resistant to plastic publicity, she added, noting that “natural or not, the danger persists if the meals is saved in plastic that has these chemical substances.”
