Full Transcript Packaging Contaminants in Ultra-Processed Foods 0:01 We have lots of choices to make about our diet and to that doing the right 0:06 thing when it comes to treating a chronic disease or fighting a virus or 0:10 losing weight and suddenly our nutrition choices can seem almost 0:15 overwhelming. Well, I'm here to help. Welcome to the 0:19 NutritionFacts podcast. I'm your host Dr. Michael Greger. 0:23 Today we continue our series on ultra-processed foods and we start with 0:28 a story on the health effects of the mineral oils, phthalates and bisphenols 0:33 leaching from packaging materials. Looking at a food label, we can see that 0:38 many ultra-processed foods are high in salt, sugar and calories and low in 0:42 nutrition and may contain food additives with questionable safety. Missing from 0:47 the label are contaminants from processing as well as contaminants that 0:51 migrate into the food from the packaging materials. Bisphenols like BPA, plastics 0:57 compounds like phthalates and microplastics as well as mineral oils. 1:02 Evidently the mineral oils come from the printing inks from recycled newspapers 1:07 used in paperboard packaging which can then migrate into the food and then 1:11 accumulate in human tissues to levels that have been found to be harmful in a 1:16 certain strain of rats. But the relevance to humans has been 1:20 questioned since apparently we can't even extrapolate the results from that 1:24 strain of rats to another strain of rats. 1:27 Plastic materials that contact our food may contain thousands of different 1:31 molecules which more than 300 have been considered as potentially risky 1:36 including phthalates which along with bisphenols may have hormone modulating 1:41 effects. Have people switch from packaged foods to fresh foods for even 1:44 just a few days and evidence of exposure to the measured bisphenols and 1:48 phthalates based on urine samples drops significantly. 1:52 The packaging is certainly not limited to ultra-processed foods. 1:57 If we look at the association between the consumption of ultra-processed foods 2:00 and how many phthalates and bisphenols are flowing through our system, 2:03 researchers found higher levels of four phthalates and BPF associated with 2:08 higher consumption of ultra-processed foods. 2:10 But there was a lack of association with the most common ones, DEHP and BPA, and 2:16 an inverse association for BPS, meaning the more ultra-processed ones diet, the 2:20 lower the exposure. This makes sense since in the food supply, BPS has only 2:26 been found in meat, most of which is considered minimally processed, with two 2:31 exceptions. Basically, with BPA, which is used to 2:34 line cans, only about half these products are ultra-processed compared to 2:38 moderately processed. In terms of phthalates in our diet, the highest 2:42 levels of DEHP per serving were found in poultry. 2:46 So if we look at dietary intake and phthalate body burden, DEHP levels were
Hidden Chemical Exposure from Food Packaging 2:51 associated with the consumption of poultry, presumably most of which was 2:54 minimally processed. That helps explain why eating vegetarian for a few days can 2:59 also lead to significant decreases in phthalate exposure, though presumably 3:04 they also cut down on ultra-processed foods during that time. 3:08 Although phthalates are best known as hormone disruptors with potential 3:12 testicular toxicity, ovarian toxicity, and endometriosis, there's also concern 3:17 about kidney toxicity, nerve damage, liver damage, 3:21 and heart damage. Exposure to BPA, the best 3:26 is associated with congenital abnormalities, diabetes, polycystic 3:30 ovary syndrome, obesity, and cardiovascular disease. 3:33 At first, we didn't think the migration of BPA into foods was high enough to 3:37 exceed safety levels, but then oopsie, we realized there is significant 3:40 evidence of potential harm from levels of BPAs in food well below current 3:45 regulations, and well below levels consumers have been regularly exposed 3:49 to. Yet, we continue to produce millions of tons of this stuff. So, it's no 3:54 surprise that nearly 90% of us have trace levels of the stuff flowing 3:58 through us on a day-to-day basis. But, it depends on what we eat. Randomized 4:03 people eating a serving of canned soup every day for 5 days and see a 1,000% 4:08 rise in BPA levels compared to eating soup every day made from fresh 4:12 ingredients. In this case, the soup was 4:15 ultra-processed, but it's more about what the cans were lined with. Here's a 4:19 non-exhaustive list of brands that do not use BPA in their canned goods. 4:26 So, yes, we can look for BPA-free on the label, just like we can check labels to 4:30 see if some ultra-processed product is low in added sugar, salt, and saturated 4:34 fat. And we can also scan the ingredients list for additives we now 4:37 know may be harmful. But, do you see the problem? Many were 4:42 considered harmless until they weren't, like the BPA and aspartame stories. And 4:47 the artificial colors and flavors that were in the food supply for decades 4:50 before they were banned? Remember when the food industry thought 4:55 partially hydrogenated oils were a good idea? Let's replace saturated fats with 4:59 trans fats. Although many countries now restrict their use, trans fats may 5:03 continue to kill up to half a million people around the world each year. 5:07 Of course, excess saturated fat is probably also killing hundreds of 5:10 thousands a year. But, the point is that trans fats from 5:14 partially hydrogenated vegetable oil killed people for decades before there 5:19 were any limits on it. The FDA didn't ban trans fats until more than 25 years 5:24 after the first solid evidence emerged that it increased the risk of heart 5:27 disease. From the time we knew until the time it
Why Ultra-Processed Foods Lose Phytonutrients 5:30 was banned, every one of those years trans fats were killing up to 50,000 5:35 Americans each year. That's quite the death toll that can be 5:39 laid at the feet of the ultra-processed food industry. 5:43 But, they originally thought it was safe. That's the problem. 5:48 Anytime some chemical company comes up with a new preservative or sweetener or 5:53 artificial color, we have no idea how it'll eventually turn out. So, you can 5:58 start to see the value of this ultra-processed food concept where an 6:04 entire category of products is essentially presumed guilty until proven 6:09 innocent. That drives the food industry crazy, but 6:12 look at its track record. Look at the trail of bodies it's left behind. 6:18 Did you know that we track only about 150 key nutritional components, just a 6:24 tiny [music] fraction of the more than 26,000 compounds present in our food? 6:29 Here's the story. Ultra-processed foods don't only 6:33 negatively impact nutritional status through a relative lack of 6:36 micronutrients like essential vitamins and minerals, but also by lacking 6:40 phytonutrients, the thousands of plant nutrients that aren't listed on the 6:44 ingredients labels that may benefit our health. For instance, polyphenols. They 6:49 aren't technically essential in that they aren't necessary for life, but they 6:53 may be necessary for a long life, so they're considered lifespan essentials. 6:59 Our primary understanding of how diet affects health is limited to the 150 key 7:03 nutritional components that are tracked and cataloged in nutritional databases, 7:08 but these represent only a tiny fraction of the more than 26,000 distinct 7:13 definable compounds present in our food. Many which have documented effects on 7:18 health, but remain unquantified in any systemic fashion across different 7:23 individual foods. There 8,000 kinds of polyphenols alone. When brown rice 7:28 started to be polished into white rice, people started to die in mass from a 7:32 nutrient deficiency disease, beriberi, became one of the most common diseases 7:37 in Asia because the germ and the bran that got removed from the rice were 7:41 where the B vitamin thiamine was. So, Miller started fortifying the polished 7:46 white rice by adding back the thiamine that had been removed. But, what about 7:49 all the other phytonutrients that are lost? And that's just going from brown 7:53 rice to white, which is considered a moderate level of processing. Think how 7:57 much is lost when rice is turned into an ultra-processed product like brown rice 8:01 syrup. Or if you take a whole soybean and end 8:04 up with just soy lecithin for that matter. 8:06 The outdated view of nutrition and public health just have to tick off all 8:11 the basic boxes to prevent deficiencies. That allows food manufacturers to boast 8:15 that their marshmallows aren't just brighter, but fortified with not one, 8:20 not two, but nine essential vitamins and minerals. So, eat up, kids. Oh, and now 8:25 33% healthier, up to 12 vitamins and minerals. Hey, we are told to eat the 8:30 rainbow, but I'm afraid these berries are not going to provide the 8:35 antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, prebiotic, and cell-protecting effects 8:38 of polyphenols in actual berries. Compared to whole foods, industrialized
The Case for Whole Foods Over Industrial Products 8:43 foods lack the complex milieu of phytonutrients, one thing that sets 8:48 whole foods apart from processed foods. Now, those with ties to candy bar 8:52 companies may argue that ultra-processed foods have essential nutrients, 8:57 but the essential nutrients are just the tip of the iceberg as it relates to the 9:00 number and variety of compounds in whole foods. Consider garlic. 9:05 Look in nutrient databases, has like manganese, vitamin B6, 9:10 selenium. However, a clove of garlic contains more than 2,000 distinct 9:14 components, which are presumably responsible for the cancer protection 9:18 associated with eating garlic family vegetables, and beneficial 9:21 cardiometabolic effects when garlic's actually put to the test. 9:25 But, when the amount of garlic in the food we eat is less than the amount of 9:29 MSG, we're probably going to miss out on the benefits. 9:34 The studies come out exactly as you would expect. flavonoids, for example, a 9:39 subset of polyphenols found in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, herbs, and 9:43 tea. That may help explain why these foods may have protective effects 9:47 against some of our leading killers like cancer and Alzheimer's. And of course, 9:51 those who eat the most ultra-processed foods get significantly fewer flavonoids 9:55 in their diet. Might that help explain the association between ultra-processed 9:59 food and several chronic diseases? Flavonoids are part of the so-called 10:04 dark matter of nutrition. Ultra-processed foods may be fortified 10:07 with specific nutrients in a vain attempt to make up for all the nutrition 10:11 that's been stripped from whole foods, but those few nutrients are just drops 10:16 in a bucket. If we're tracking only 150 components and there are more than 10:20 26,000 different compounds in foods, then that means more than 99% of the 10:25 compounds stripped from whole foods to make ultra-processed products may be 10:28 gone for good, and who knows what impact that has on our health. What we do know 10:33 is that these products are evolutionarily novel. Just like our 10:37 bodies are not used to all the new stuff added to our foods, 10:41 our bodies may also not be used to all the old stuff like fiber subtracted from 10:45 our foods. Just like it's difficult to tease out 10:47 the long-term consequences of the cocktails of new food additives, we 10:52 don't know what critical combination of phytonutrients we may be missing. 10:56 >> [music] >> Until big food figures it out and we can 10:58 add a lucky 13, maybe it would be best to try to stick [music] to whole foods. 11:04 Visit nutritionfacts.org/audio to see all the podcast episodes with 11:08 descriptions that include links to [music] their associated videos, 11:12 sources cited, and other details are available on each video's page. 11:16 Information about my books, How Not to Die, How Not to Diet, and How Not to Age 11:20 is all at nutritionfacts.org/books, [music] 11:24 including some of the newer titles, including Lowering LDL Cholesterol 11:29 Naturally with Food. All proceeds from all book sales 11:35 that I get go to charity. And I've got a new book in the publication pipeline, 11:41 How Not to Hurt. It's going to be available at December 15th of this year, 11:45 2026. And don't forget to sign up for our free 11:49 newsletter, nutritionfacts.org/subscribe, 11:53 to stay updated on the latest bite-size videos and articles. 11:57 >> [music] >> nutritionfacts.org is a science-based 11:59 nonprofit. Everything on the website is free. There are no ads, no corporate 12:04 sponsorship, no kickbacks, strictly noncommercial, not selling anything. 12:08 Just put it up as a public service, as a labor of love, as a tribute to my 12:12 grandmother, whose own life was saved with evidence-based [music] 12:16 nutrition. Thanks for listening.
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