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Dive Briefing:
- According to Consumer Reports, chemicals found in rocket fuel, certain plastics, and airbags are also commonly found in many foods and groceries.
- The advocacy group's testing found measurable levels of the chemical, known as perchlorate, in 67 percent of 196 samples from 63 grocery stores and 10 fast-food products. Levels ranged from two parts per billion (ppb) to 79 ppb.
- Consumers Reports noted that none of the tested foods, including fruits, vegetables, dairy and meat products, had “acutely dangerous levels of perchlorate.” Still, the group noted that some foods contained enough of the chemical to reach “potentially dangerous levels” after just a few servings.
Dive Insight:
Perchlorate has been closely monitored for decades after it was discovered in food and water. In 2003, the Environmental Working Group tested lettuce for perchlorate and found it was often found at high levels in about 20% of supermarket samples.
Consumer Reports notes that the EPA set an “official reference dose” for perchloric acid of 0.7 micrograms per kilogram of body weight two years later. That’s basically a safe exposure level, 0.7 micrograms per kilogram of body weight per day. The European Food Safety Agency has set a limit of half that amount.
According to the FDA, exposure to high doses of perchlorate can affect the thyroid gland, interfere with metabolism in adults, and affect the growth and development of the central nervous system in fetuses and infants.
Tunde Akinleye, a chemist who oversaw Consumer Reports’ testing, wrote in the report that the group decided to review the foods because “lack of action by regulators has led to a gap in our understanding of how pervasive perchlorate is in our food.”
The EPA said in a response to Food Dive that it is reviewing the report.
According to Consumer Reports, infant and toddler foods had the highest levels of perchlorate, at 19.4 ppb, followed by fruits and vegetables at 9.3 ppb, baked goods and cereals at 6.9 ppb, dairy products at 6.2 ppb, and meat products at 5.3 ppb. According to Consumer Reports, none of the foods tested had levels of perchlorate high enough to exceed the recommended daily limits by EFSA or EPA.
The advocacy group also studied packaging, finding that foods in plastic containers had the highest levels (averaging about 54 ppb), followed by foods in plastic wrap and paper boxes.
“Regulators should do more to protect the public from contaminants like perchlorate, but parents shouldn’t panic about what we found,” said James E. Rogers, director of product safety testing for Consumer Reports.
The report is unlikely to have a meaningful impact on long-term consumption of the foods tested by the advocacy group, or on the companies that produce foods whose perchlorate levels fall below what regulators consider unsafe. But the report could raise public awareness of perchlorate and prompt EPA and other regulators to conduct further review of the chemical.
