024: Dangers of Plastic Food Packaging with Dr. Jane Muncke
12/02/19 • 11 min
Plastic food packaging indeed protects our food but it can also be the source of chemical food contamination and increased risk in health. We don’t know every material used in making these packaging and this knowledge gap can actually hurt us.
Join me in this episode as we unfold the different packaging materials and chemicals that touch our food with Dr. Jane Muncke, the Managing Director and Chief Scientific Officer of the Food Packaging Forum.
In this conversation, she talks about the different packaging materials that are used to package food. She also explains the chemical migration in our food packaging, how plastic is made, what materials are considered safe that could pass the toxicology tests, and many more!
In this Episode, We Discuss:
- Different materials used in food packaging
- The known unknowns
- The chemical migration in our food packaging
- Single-use and reusables
- Plastic materials that could pass the toxicology test
Get to know Jane Muncke:
Dr. Jane holds a doctorate degree in environmental toxicology and an MSc in environmental science from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich.
She currently works as a Managing Director at the Food Packaging Forum, a science communication organization that provides independent and balanced information on issues related to food packaging and health. She is a full scientific member of the Society of Toxicology, the American Chemical Society, the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, and the Endocrine Society.
You can learn more about Dr. Jane’s work and achievements here.
References from this episode:
- Food Packaging Forum
- Subscribe here and stay up to date with the Food Packaging Forum’s newsletter and read about the latest news and scientific research!
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Plastic food packaging indeed protects our food but it can also be the source of chemical food contamination and increased risk in health. We don’t know every material used in making these packaging and this knowledge gap can actually hurt us.
Join me in this episode as we unfold the different packaging materials and chemicals that touch our food with Dr. Jane Muncke, the Managing Director and Chief Scientific Officer of the Food Packaging Forum.
In this conversation, she talks about the different packaging materials that are used to package food. She also explains the chemical migration in our food packaging, how plastic is made, what materials are considered safe that could pass the toxicology tests, and many more!
In this Episode, We Discuss:
- Different materials used in food packaging
- The known unknowns
- The chemical migration in our food packaging
- Single-use and reusables
- Plastic materials that could pass the toxicology test
Get to know Jane Muncke:
Dr. Jane holds a doctorate degree in environmental toxicology and an MSc in environmental science from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich.
She currently works as a Managing Director at the Food Packaging Forum, a science communication organization that provides independent and balanced information on issues related to food packaging and health. She is a full scientific member of the Society of Toxicology, the American Chemical Society, the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, and the Endocrine Society.
You can learn more about Dr. Jane’s work and achievements here.
References from this episode:
- Food Packaging Forum
- Subscribe here and stay up to date with the Food Packaging Forum’s newsletter and read about the latest news and scientific research!
---
Did you enjoy today’s episode?
Thanks for listening! Be sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified immediately when a new episode comes out! If you enjoyed the Mercast, please click here to leave a review and share this episode with a friend!
I hope you spend some time in nature today! I'll catch you next time.
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Previous Episode
023: #BreakFreeFromPlastic through Corporate Accountability with Shilpi Chhotray
Have you ever thought about what materials your ketchup sachet was made of? Or even thought of what this type of packaging may do to your health?
In today's episode, we are joined by Shilpi Chhotray from the UNWRAPPED Conference. She shares with us the huge problem that comes from sachet packaging and how it is being used by various companies for multiple products.
Join us as we discuss this problem and the possible actions we can take to counter and modify Corporate Accountability and make sure it is translated Globally in order to reduce the use of single-use plastics and make a positive impact.
In this Episode, We Discuss:
- Reducing the use of single-use plastic packaging
- Corporate accountability and The Global Waste Trade
- A Summary of what Shilpi learned at the UNWRAPPED Conference
Get to know Shilpi Chhotray:
Shilpi Chhotray is a senior Communications Officer for the Break Free From Plastic global movement. #Breakfreefromplastic is a global movement envisioning a future free from plastic pollution, by demanding a massive reduction in single-use plastics and to push for lasting solutions to the plastic pollution crisis.
Know more about the break free from plastic movement:
Break Free From Plastic Website
Break Free From Plastic Newsletters
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Did you enjoy today’s episode?
Thanks for listening! Be sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast app to get notified immediately when a new episode comes out! If you enjoyed the Mercast, please click here to leave a review and share this episode with a friend!
I hope you spend some time in nature today! I'll catch you next time.
Subscribe to The Mercast
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Next Episode
025: The Chemicals We Eat through Food Packaging with Maricel Maffini
Don’t you just enjoy the popping sound of popcorn as it sits inside the microwave, ready for your relaxing movie night?
But what might be scarier than your horror movie (if you're watching one), is knowing that there are chemicals from the packaging of your microwaveable popcorn transferred into your movie snack which you already ingested.
Today we are joined by Researcher, Maricel Maffini. She discusses with us a summary of her presentation from the UNWRAPPED about the chemicals in packaging that transfer to our food and the ways in which the chemicals come out of the packaging into your food.
In this Episode, We Discuss:
- A summary of Maricel Maffini’s presentation on the UNWRAPPED Conference
- Chemicals added to make the plastic more flexible
- Ways in which chemicals come out from the packaging
- Microwave safe vs Health safe
- Lipophilic plastics, PFAS, and PVCs
- Supporting companies that have a safety product policy
Get to know Maricel Maffini:
Dr. Maricel V. Maffini is an Independent Consultant. She holds a doctorate degree in Biological Sciences. She has more than 25 years of research experience in the fields of carcinogenesis, reproductive biology, and endocrine disruption.
For the past nine years, Dr. Maffini has conducted research and published on the U.S. food additive regulatory program, conflicts of interest and regulatory science. Her current work focuses on environmental health issues related to chemical safety with special emphasis on food chemicals, risk assessment, and science policy.
She has authored numerous peer-reviewed journal articles, reviews, and book chapters. Before becoming a consultant, she was a senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council, a senior science officer at The Pew Charitable Trust, and a Research Assistant Professor at Tufts University School of Medicine.
To know more about the Unwrapped conference you may check their website here.
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I hope you spend some time in nature today! I'll catch you next time.
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