Eat Less Plastic

Consumer Reports on Plastic in Food 0:00

So do you guys get consumer reports? Um, we have a subscription. My husband has subscription actually. And, um, this one came and it says how to eat less plastic. This is a good one guys. Um. So what I love is that it talks about all of the plastic in our food. Can you see it? Even if it's like a plastic bag plastic wrapper plastic bottles cans all that kind of stuff so because the cans are lying right with things. And so it goes into it talks about. All the issues you know with why we don't want these things in our foods and how leeches into our food and all that kind of stuff so.

Avoiding Plastic Containers and Microwaving 0:48

But what I love is that it also talks about ways to eliminate them. So, plastic water bottles is a huge one that lots of people struggle with avoiding. steer clear of plastic food storage containers. I only use glass storage, containers I like have a heart attack if I see a plastic one. Not literally, I don't have heart attacks. Be careful what I say. But so never use plastic, food, storage. Containers certainly never microwave those plastic foods or containers Now you've really got a double whammy of a problem when it comes to contaminating your food.

So especially when we spend, you know, it's expensive to eat healthier foods and you go out of your way to try to get something that's as healthy as possible, as nutrient dense as possibly, only to contaminated with all of these chemicals.

Fast Food Wrappers and Chemical Contamination 1:52

Then what I love is that it broke it down by category and it tested certain foods for how many plastic chemicals were in them. So it did fast food, grains, all that kind of stuff. With fast foods, remember that those wrappers that your fast-food is lined in, it's coated with something to prevent the grease and the oils from seeping through the wrapper. That's what keeps all the gunk out. You see in this wrapper here, this is Moe's Southwest Grill, that aluminum foil wrapping, well, So, and for example, this says, Mo's Southwest Grilled Chicken Burrito has very high levels of phthalate substitutes, which may be as harmful as the chemicals that they replace.

Meaning, okay, we were aware of some things like maybe BPA and that kind of thing. So they started to take it out and replace with other chemicals. Well, six to one, half dozen to the other, you still have a problem. So what I thought was really interesting was like even Chipotle. So Chipoli is a healthier go-to for fast food, but if you get the burrito and it's wrapped in that same foil with those same coatings,

Cereals, Baby Food, and Packaged Foods 3:04

okay, now you've got a problem. The Chipolte Chicken Burrito was just as contaminated as the Burger King Whopper. So at least there were some nutrients in there, you know, more so than the Burger King Whopper. But as far as contamination is concerned, it was greater than that. For cereals, Cheerios, original cereos, out of the grains that they tested, was extremely high on the list. So Cheerio's, I've been talking about Cheeries for a long time. I know Foodbabe did this huge thing on Cheeriós and how contaminated they are.

with other things. And then this shows you that it's an extremely high because it is one of those go-to cereals that a lot of people think of as healthy. They think it as a healthier food. When I was growing up, Cheerios was supposed to be a healthy food, it wasn't drunk cereal. It was a healthier cereal and the total nanograms per serving for General Mills Cheerio's original cereal was 10,980. Okay, that's a huge huge number, in one serving. And what's a serving of Cheerios, like half a cup? It's not a lot.

It not like you have to eat a ton of it. So it was really interesting. There's baby food on here, even organic foods, because they're stored in plastics, or they are in cans that are lined. Glass jars are always the way to go. If you've got a choice to get something in a glass jar, get it in the glass a can or a plastic container.

Canned Foods, Dairy, and Meal Shakes 4:36

So like, let's say Applegate Farms, that's a healthier brand. There they have oven roasted turkey breast that was pretty low compared to the other ones like Purdue ground chicken breast. It's in a foam tray with a Plastic wrapper that Was really high. That was almost 10,000. Um, so where the AppliGate farms was lower. Uh, So what else is on here that might be interesting? They did packaged vegetables that are in a plastic bag, and the frozen vegetables in the plastic were extremely low compared to in-the-can.

So things that were in can were, let's see, one, two, almost three times higher than frozen in plastic bags. Let's what else? Chicken of the Sea, pink salmon in water, skinless, boneless in a can. That was over 24,000. What else is on here? Wendy's, we don't have to tell you Wendy. Yo plate yogurt. This is another one that people think that's healthy. So original low fat yogurt, French vanilla. Not any extra junk in it, plain and simple. It was almost 11, 000. Ben and Jerry's ice cream, that was over 6,000, but it was better.

It had less contaminants than the yoplait yogurt that we think of as really, really healthy.

Reducing Plastic Exposure in Everyday Eating 6:12

For dairy, they tested, well, the tested the Yoplate yogurt and the Ben & Jerrys. They also tested FairLife. That's the milk alternative. The tested The Core Power High Protein Milkshake in plastic that had over 20,00. And they also testing SlimFast. high protein meal replacement shake in plastic, that was almost 17,000. They did bake beans, of course, they're going to be high. Lipton brisk lemonade in the can, was over 7, 000. It's definitely something to be aware of and to make sure that we're eliminating as much as possible.

You know, you do everything that you can. When you all that, that's what I say, chalk up to God. Okay. So that to bridge the gap of what your personal responsibility can't influence that. But there's so much that can do. And we can start with eliminating plastic containers. We can start with being more conscious and aware of how we purchase things and what packaging they're in, and then how they cook with things or what we cook or microwave in. Just don't microwave. It's a bad idea. So I hope you found this helpful.