Five Ways to Reduce Microplastics in Your Food

While scientists are still uncovering information about microplastics and their potential to affect human health, one thing is certain: They’re making their way into our bodies. EWG recently reviewed the ways that microplastics are getting consumed through food and we’ve got five tips to cut down on your exposure..

The science around microplastics is not settled. We still have much to learn about where the particles come from and how they infiltrate places they certainly should not be, such as the brain.

Exposure levels can be drastically different from person to person. Our review found a few common routes that microplastics can take via the food we eat.

What we know

Some of the findings may be surprising: Ultra-processed foods, or UPF, typically contain higher levels of plastics than less processed food.

That’s the conclusion of EWG scientist Samantha Romanick, Ph.D., who investigated microplastics contamination in food. She analyzed peer-reviewed studies that used spectroscopic techniques to identify plastic particles by type, size and shape, in food items on store shelves.