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Consumer Reports finds 'widespread' presence of plastics in food

reuters.com

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Re: Consumer Reports finds 'widespread' presence of plastics in food

#201

Post by globular-toast »

abdullahkhalids wrote: post #192
gamblor956 wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you worried about microplastics on your plate ? Because that is a problem you're more likely to have at home, than in a restaurant setting where they have far more powerful and effective dishwashers.

When you buy fries at a fast-food restaurant like McDonalds, the fries are served in a little container that is made of paper covered by a thin plastic layer [1]. Microscopic amounts of that plastic will get on the hot fries, and you will ingest it. The same, of course, holds for other hot food products, like fried chicken, consumed in such containers. Of course, the overall discussion is about microplastics in groce…

Must be a cultural thing because like the other commenter I had no idea what was being talked about here. When I have fries/chips they come from a deep fat frier and are served on a plate.

Kinda hilarious that people would be like "omg McDonald's is bad for you?"

Re: Consumer Reports finds 'widespread' presence of plastics in food

#202

Post by dp-hackernews »

AlexandrB wrote: post #129
scoot wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Although, licorice roots are okay to chew on... I guess. Licorice can be toxic: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8962506/

So can water[1]. The dose makes the poison. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_intoxication

As can Oxygen.

Re: Consumer Reports finds 'widespread' presence of plastics in food

#203

Post by looofooo »

ledgerdev wrote: post #9
looofooo wrote: post #2

What is the problem with these "plastics"?

I would strongly encourage you look into the research of Dr Shawna Swan. She's done several studies since the 1990's that have found and then later confirmed very alarming effects on testosterone and unborn children. And it's not just plastics causing this, it's pesticides and parabens too.

But is it the same polymers they found in the food?

Re: Consumer Reports finds 'widespread' presence of plastics in food

#204

Post by stevenwoo »

TriangleEdge wrote: post #81

I'm not a chemist. Why doesn't plastic get broken down? Will there be a future where my doctor will prescribe me an enzyme or something that will breakdown the plastics in my body so they can be filtered out, or turned into energy?

Making plastic requires a specific step of heating to very high, specific temperatures and pressures and separating components of petrochemicals or similar biomass that cannot be easily reversed by aging or biological processes. A metaphor for this might be thinking about cracking an egg and scrambling it in a frying pan, then attempting to reverse this and put the egg back together only using mechanical steps and cooling - it's impossible by any practical means.

Re: Consumer Reports finds 'widespread' presence of plastics in food

#205

Post by dvngnt_ »

forward1 wrote: post #103
moose44 wrote: post #78

Easy way to limit your exposure: Local, organic and unprocessed whole foods. Stop eating garbage—you'll feel better and won't have to worry about stuff like this.

That's very idyllic, but the unfortunate reality is preparing whole foods takes time which many people simply don't have. Eating processed, packaged foods is a compromise they have to make to tend to family, work or other matters. Not dissimilar from putting purchases you can't afford on a credit card, and paying the price for it down the road.

there's always time

a pressure cooker cuts time considerably. a slow cooker allows you to multitask

Re: Consumer Reports finds 'widespread' presence of plastics in food

#206

Post by whoknowsidont »

globular-toast wrote: post #201
abdullahkhalids wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you buy fries at a fast-food restaurant like McDonalds, the fries are served in a little container that is made of paper covered by a thin plastic layer [1]. Microscopic amounts of that plastic will get on the hot fries, and you will ingest it. The same, of course, holds for other hot food products, like fried chicken, consumed in such containers. Of course, the overall discussion is about microplastics in groce…

Must be a cultural thing because like the other commenter I had no idea what was being talked about here. When I have fries/chips they come from a deep fat frier and are served on a plate. Kinda hilarious that people would be like "omg McDonald's is bad for you ?"

The containers are not a McDonald's only thing, but they are the most consumed french fries on the planet.

So it's not really a cultural thing? It's definitely a global phenomenon.

>omg McDonald's is bad for you?

Now you're just being dense on purpose.

Re: Consumer Reports finds 'widespread' presence of plastics in food

#207

Post by ledgerdev »

looofooo wrote: post #203
ledgerdev wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would strongly encourage you look into the research of Dr Shawna Swan. She's done several studies since the 1990's that have found and then later confirmed very alarming effects on testosterone and unborn children. And it's not just plastics causing this, it's pesticides and parabens too.

But is it the same polymers they found in the food?

Yes, they measured bisphenols and phthalates.

I actually tracked down the original which has charts of how much was found, and is what should have been linked to in this post. https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-contaminants/the...

Frankly it's frightening to consider the implications.

Re: Consumer Reports finds 'widespread' presence of plastics in food

#208

Post by looofooo »

ledgerdev wrote: post #207
looofooo wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But is it the same polymers they found in the food?

Yes, they measured bisphenols and phthalates. I actually tracked down the original which has charts of how much was found, and is what should have been linked to in this post. https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-contaminants/the... Frankly it's frightening to consider the implications.

OK but levels are down from 2009, so we are in the right track.

Re: Consumer Reports finds 'widespread' presence of plastics in food

#209

Post by MichaelZuo »

chiefalchemist wrote: post #193
MichaelZuo wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's true though. The FDA almost certainly has at least a dozen folks much smarter than the user calling them 'clueless'. And all regulated organizations, in total, certainly have many hundreds much smarter responding to the FDA. It's very likely that at least a few thousand actual bonafide geniuses interact substantially, in some way, in any given year.

Smart? What does that have to do with doing their job? Are you saying that smart people aren't lazy? Aren't corruptible? Don't suffer from group-think? Geez, the list could go on and on and on. If smart was all that is necessary, we wouldn't need the likes of the FDA. If smart was all that is necessary, the world wouldn't be the clusterfuck that it is. History is clear...relying on smart is a stupid idea. Ignoring hi…

These points would also apply to HN users, so the relative gap remains the same.

Re: Consumer Reports finds 'widespread' presence of plastics in food

#210

Post by therealdrag0 »

steve_rambo wrote: post #138
bsenftner wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who else is there? Today's consumer protections for anything Internet related feels nonexistent. Who else is like Consumer Reports?

https://rtings.com is pretty good, they're sponsored by readers just like CR.

The detail I could get from them comparing TVs and Vaccumes really impressed me.
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