Toxicology scientist Jane Muncke joins Nate to discuss the effects of ultra processed foods and their packaging on our health. Topics include plastic pollution, the history and impact of food packaging, risks of migration in plastic food packaging, endocrine disrupting chemicals and obesity, coalitions and partnerships in food packaging, interdisciplinary collaboration in eco-toxicology, efforts to cast doubt on the impact of plastics, and the importance of relationships and safe food packaging.
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Plastic Is Chemically Complex And Leaky
Plastics are not chemically inert: polymers contain many residual monomers, catalysts and byproducts that can migrate into food.
Manufacturers often don't know full chemical composition of finished plastics, yet those chemicals contact food.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Never Microwave Hot Food In Plastic
Avoid heating food in plastic and never microwave hot fatty or acidic foods in plastic containers.
Heat is the primary driver of migration, so use glass, ceramic or stainless steel for hot foods and drinks.
insights INSIGHT
Four Factors That Maximize Chemical Migration
Risk of chemical migration rises with heat, long storage, acidity and fatty content; high-fat acidic hot foods maximize transfer.
Examples: polystyrene cups, hot coffee with milk, and fatty packaged foods show especially high migration.
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On this episode, toxicology scientist Dr. Jane Muncke joins Nate to discuss the current state of food production and the effects of ultra processed foods and their packaging on our health. Over the last century processed food has taken over our supermarkets and our diets, and at the same time the containers they're sold in have evolved as well - to be more eye-catching and keep food 'good' for longer. But what have we sacrificed in exchange for efficiency, ease, and convenience? How do the chemicals used in packaging and processing transfer into the food we eat and subsequently end up in our bodies? Will switching away from these toxic food practices require more local food supply chains - and correspondingly simpler diets and lifestyles?
About Jane Muncke
Jane Muncke holds a doctorate degree in environmental toxicology and a MSc in environmental science from the ETH Zurich. Since 2012 she has been working as Managing Director and Chief Scientific Officer at the charitable Food Packaging Forum Foundation (FPF) in Zurich, Switzerland. FPF is a research and science communication organization focusing on chemicals in all types of food contact materials. She is a full scientific member of the Society of Toxicology (SOT), the Society for Environmental Chemistry and Toxicology (SETAC), the American Chemical Society (ACS) and the Endocrine Society. Since 2019, she has been an elected expert member of the Swiss Organic Farming Association Bio Suisse's committee on trade and processing where she contributes to further developing the standards for processing and packaging of organic food. She is a director of the FAN initiative, a collective of experts warning about resource overshoot, the polycrisis, and related societal collapse.
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