Last year I experienced some crunchy, bitty-ness in a side dish at a restaurant. The pieces were too small to see in the dish, and I couldn’t go digging inside my mouth at the restaurant, but somehow they seemed non-organic, so I didn’t finish it. One’s tongue can identify even small bits of paper or fishbone easily. This seemed like something that didn’t belong.
A few months ago, I noticed similar bitty-ness while eating ravioli filled with artichoke and crab. It had come from a store. This time, I found the particle, a piece of plastic, shown flattened out in the accompanying photo. I can only speculate but suspect carelessness in preparing or filling the bags of crab or artichoke. Plastic is everywhere, as we all have learned.
These two incidents and others in the past, together with recent press about ultra-processed foods leading to increased cancer cases in younger individuals, convinced me to write something about it.
The message is this: If you wish to minimize your ingestion of unhealthy food additives, intentional or accidental, that have been associated with increased risk of cancer, it would be wise to avoid all processed foods. I think about children especially.
The links below address cancer risk and foods, not plastic per se. I include a link to my blogpost on how to prevent obesity (some of it tongue-in-cheek)
http://james-channing-shaw.blogspot.com/2009/10/ways-to-combat-obesity.html
https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/242892/ultra-processed-foods-linked-increased-risk-cancer/
https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/causes-of-cancer/diet-and-cancer/food-controversies
The human brain may contain an entire spoon's worth of nanoplastics, according to new findings published in the journal Nature Medicine. The researchers detected "unbelievable" levels of microplastics and nanoplastics in human brain samples collected at autopsy in early 2024.
ReplyDeleteAddendum - February 10th, 2025 -
ReplyDeleteENDING THE FORCED USE OF PAPER STRAWS: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order to end the procurement and forced use of paper straws.
The Federal government is directed to stop purchasing paper straws and ensure they are no longer provided within Federal buildings.
The Order requires the development of a National Strategy to End the Use of Paper Straws within 45 days to alleviate the forced use of paper straws nationwide.
BRINGING BACK COMMON SENSE: The irrational campaign against plastic straws has forced Americans to use nonfunctional paper straws. This ends under President Trump.
Cities and states across America have banned plastic straws, caving to pressure from woke activists who prioritize symbolism over science.
Paper straws use chemicals that may carry risks to human health – including “forever chemical” PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) which are known to be highly water soluble and can bleed from the straw into a drink.
A study found that while PFAS were found in paper straws, no measurable PFAS were found in plastic straws.
Paper straws are more expensive than plastic straws, and often force users to use multiple straws.
Paper straws are not the eco-friendly alternative they claim to be – studies have shown that producing paper straws can have a larger carbon footprint and require more water than plastic straws.
Paper straws often come individually wrapped in plastic, undermining the environmental argument for their use.