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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

#211

Post by lobocinza »

gamblor956 wrote: post #191
gigatree wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where did you get that? Restaurants have paper-thin margins and strong incentives to use the lowest quality ingredients they can get away with.

When I was at a firm, my clients included a number of restaurants ranging from the high-end to the decidedly low-end (i.e., fast food), including a number of major restaurant chains HQ'd in the SoCal area. I can guarantee that I know more about restaurant finances than anyone on this thread other than an actual restaurant owner, because for years it was my job to know this stuff. But anyways: the number one operation…

So your experience is limited to SoCal at best. In my experience restaurants will unfortunately cut corners and deliver garbage because it is cheaper or easier.

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

#213

Post by throw10920 »

siliconc0w wrote: post #141
throw10920 wrote: post #63

Hooray for Consumer Reports! They're one of the few truly independent (e.g. no paid sponsorships like you see on YouTube channels) product testing and review companies. I have a subscription to them and it's served me well, and I hope they stick around for a while.

I'm for independent analysis/investigative journalism but this seems written to generate a certain result. All foods are below the guidelines but potentially any amount is unsafe? So any detectable level is bad? It's not clear what result would have been 'good news'.

I agree that CR editorialized a bit - apparently they're not immune to the increasingly emotionally charged journalism in this day and age.

However, I think that they did a better job than, e.g. the NYT would have done - and they actually did lab tests themselves!

I'm hoping that I can convince some friends and family to not just get a CR membership, but also write to them and ask them to editorialize less, change the way they review certain products (like cars), etc.

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

#214

Post by thirdsun »

bsenftner wrote: post #71
throw10920 wrote: post #63

Hooray for Consumer Reports! They're one of the few truly independent (e.g. no paid sponsorships like you see on YouTube channels) product testing and review companies. I have a subscription to them and it's served me well, and I hope they stick around for a while.

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

Escape Collective for cycling gear and topics. It's a recently launched outlet consisting of quite a few ex-Cycling Tips writers. They don't use ads and are instead supported by their paying subscribers. The content is fantastic if you're into cycling.

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

#215

Post by moose44 »

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.

While I understand your point. You've alluded to a greater issue—time management. Everyone has time. You make time for what is important. We all find time to watch TV, sit on our phones and go out. I do not believe a person is booked every single hour and minute of the day. It's a convenient excuse to justify making poor decisions.

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

#216

Post by Sammi »

jdietrich wrote: post #128
agilob wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the canary of plastic pollution similar to we knew about global warming in '70s. We know it's only going to get worse, but we're happy to ignore it until it gets really bad.

Nearly 500 years ago, Paracelsus wrote "All things are poisonous and nothing is without poison; only the dose makes a thing not poisonous". He was correct then and he is still correct today, but we stubbornly refuse to accept the first law of toxicology. Broiling, frying and baking makes food more toxic. There's absolutely no getting away from that fact. As soon as you apply high heat to a food, you're performing a p…

The first half of this post was so refreshingly level headed. The second half was not.

The First half argued plastics are useful yet they might be somewhat poisonous.

The second half then suddenly insisted we cannot believe plastics are poisonous.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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

#217

Post by checkyoursudo »

adamredwoods wrote: post #194
impalallama wrote: post #56

Direct link to article. https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-contaminants/the... > We found [phthalates] in all but one food (Polar raspberry lime seltzer). A very grim lol.

Per the article: >> Yet some products had much lower levels than others. A serving of Pizza Hut’s Original Cheese Pan Pizza, for example, had half the phthalate levels of a similar pizza from Little Caesars. Levels varied even among products from the same brand: Chef Boyardee Big Bowl Beefaroni pasta in meat sauce had less than half the level of the company’s Beefaroni pasta in tomato and meat sauce. This is also sur…

Preparing the food in front of you does not take into account all of the steps along the manufacturing chain. So maybe it should not be that surprising if everything is stored in plastic tubs, bins, and jars right up until they prepare it.

I try to buy only end products in glass jars, but I know full well that the ingredients and even final product can be stored in plastic all along the way before it is packaged in its final form and sent to the store. Still, I try to buy in glass jars because I haven't fully given in. I figure something that might sit on the shelf still for months could in fact get worse by being in plastic instead of glass, so I will still go for the glass.

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