WWW.GREENMATTERS.COM / FOOD

Researchers Reveal The 5 Common Food Items That Are Now Contaminated With Microplastics

The extent to which plastics have seeped their way into human plates through commonly consumed foods is not only dramatic but also horrific.

BY NEHA B.

PUBLISHED 3 DAYS AGO

A woman unpacking the groceries and fresh produce she bought from the store. (Representative Cover Image Source: Freepik | freepik)

Plastic is an imposter constantly conning earthlings by deceiving them into believing that they cannot imagine a life without it. It has already strangled the neck of the world and is rapidly choking the planet to a slow, subtle death. The problem is, plastic disintegrates into particles so tiny that humans can’t even see them. These shimmery particles, thousands of times smaller than a human blood cell, use winds, water, the Sun, and everything to spread their territory from the deepest ocean trenches to the stillest of polar ice, per BBC. After clawing the planet in its stronghold, plastic is now materializing in the very food that sustains life.

A discarded plastic bottle floating in the ocean (Representative Image Source: Unsplash | Brian Yurasits)

Lying shredded across the Pacific Ocean, these shiny plastic particles fool the albatrosses, who assume it’s food and end up ingesting them in their bellies. Turtles in the ocean often confuse the glittery microplastic fragments for jellyfish and eat them. A study published in Marine Pollution Bulletin revealed that approximately 34% of leatherback sea turtles have ingested plastics. Let alone these innocent animals, even humans can’t fight back against it, for the poisonous plastic has gripped strongly the very fabric of their everyday lives, including their plates.

Majestic sea turtle swimming in crystal blue waters (Representative Cover Image Source: Pexels | Richard Segal)

University of Newcastle researchers found that a person, on average, consumes the equivalent of a credit card's worth of microplastics every week. WWF states that the amount of plastic has propagated to such an extent that by 2050, there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. Horror strikes when humans realize that this plastic has cunningly made its way from the deepest oceans to tiny cracks in the roots. When plants and crops absorb the water from these roots, the plastic percolates into the plant body, contaminating its essence and disrupting its growth. Especially the root-based produce like carrots, radishes, turnips, and potatoes are oozing with accumulated microplastics these days, according to a 2021 study. Even vegetarians are not safe.

A bunch of fresh carrots in orange, red and purple colors (Representative Image Source: Pixabay | ShireShy)

Apart from fruits and vegetables, scientists have discovered hints of plastics lingering in common kitchen staples such as salt and sugar. In a 2023 study, for instance, scientists mined mounds of sea salt from the ground and discovered that coarse Himalayan pink salt, black salt, and marine salt – all were contaminated with zillions of plastic particles. A 2022 study showed that “five brands of commercial sugars and two unpacked, unbranded, and unlabeled sugars” contained plastics.

A wooden spoon dips into a mound of with white salt crystals (Representative Image Source: Pixabay | Marek)

Fruits, vegetables, salt, sugar, and now, water too. In a 2018 study, researchers tested bottled water to find that it contained “325 microplastic particles per liter, with some samples containing up to 10,000 particles per liter.” Rice is another victim. A study published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials revealed that 95% of store-bought rice samples were pilfered by the plastic’s family members, including polyethylene, polypropylene, and PET. Even tea bags aren’t spared. Researchers at McGill University found that brewing a single plastic teabag spewed 11.6 billion microplastic and 3.1 billion nanoplastic particles into the water.

Shot of a clear cup of tea. (Representative Image Source: Pexels | Kampus Production) — A cup of golden yellow tea in a white saucer. (Representative Image Source: Pexels | Kampus Production)

Let’s not forget beer. A study in PLOS ONE found microplastic particles in all 12 beer brands tested across the U.S. and Canada. And, then, there’s a shocker. Even honey has that, too. A study published in Science of the Total Environment showed that honeybees and leafcutter bees are involved in interaction with the plastics, which then seep into the honey they make in honeycombs.

Top angle view of bees putting honey in honeycombs. (Representative Image Source: Pexels | Pixabay)

The problem of plastics becomes even graver because once a plastic is created, it doesn’t die easily. Americans use trillions of plastic bags each year and one bag of plastic takes thousands of years to decompose. The nature of plastic is to be stubborn and resistant to degradation. The consequence - plastic has succeeded in transcending to the level of omnipresence, something which even the greatest of human monks failed to achieve. In this case, however, the meditation is a deadly life-sucking game that will probably destroy the world, the planet, maybe.