Not even the Cookie Monster can escape the reach of PFAS. A study conducted by Consumer Reports tested 118 food packaging products from restaurants and supermarkets for total organic fluorine, a measure of PFAS. Overall, more than half of the packaging tested had detectable levels of organic fluorine and more than twenty were above 100 ppm. To put that into context, starting in January 2023, paper food packaging with over 100 ppm organic fluorine will be banned in California. Items with 100 parts per million or more include bags for cookies, chips and fries, salad bowls, soup containers, and sandwich (or hamburger, burrito, pita, “insert your lunch here”) wrappers.

Reducing, not to mention eliminating, PFAS in food packaging is proving harder than some may have anticipated. According to Consumer Reports, companies are facing supply chain problems as well as logistical challenges in their quest to remove a substance “present in everyday life from tap water to air to soil.”

You can read more about the study’s methodology and findings here.