FDA studies food samples to quantify PFAS chemicals

PFAS are a family of human-made chemicals that are found in a wide range of products used by consumers and industry.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been working to develop new methods to quantify certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in foods. FDA has employed these new methods to test samples of foods Americans typically consume for certain types of PFAS, and has made available recently analyzed data from these initial testing initiatives.

Overall, the findings did not detect PFAS in the vast majority of the foods tested. In addition, based on the best available current science, the FDA does not have any indication that these substances are a human health concern, in other words a food safety risk in human food, at the levels found in this limited sampling. These data give the scientists a benchmark to use as FDA continues the critical work studying this emerging area of science.

PFAS are a family of human-made chemicals that are found in a wide range of products used by consumers and industry. There are nearly 5,000 types of PFAS, some of which have been more widely used and studied than others. Many PFAS are impermeable to grease, water and oil. For this reason, beginning in the 1940s, PFAS have been used for many different applications including in stain- and water-resistant fabrics and carpeting, cleaning products, paints and fire-fighting foams, as well as in limited, authorized uses in cookware and food packaging and processing, referred to as food contact substances.

Over the last year, FDA has expanded its testing to analyze for PFAS in foods typically eaten by Americans, and not associated with specific contamination areas. The samples analyzed were from foods originally collected as part of the FDA’s Total Diet Study (TDS) in 2017 and analyzed in 2019. This is the first time the FDA has tested for PFAS in such a highly diverse sample of foods.

While no PFAS compounds were detected in the majority of the foods sampled, varying levels of PFAS were found in 14 samples out of 91, but FDA’s safety assessment determined the products were not likely to be health concern at the levels that were detected. FDA plans to continue this testing and currently have new TDS samples in the lab for analysis. Combined with other sampling, the testing will help FDA calculate the risks of exposure through food.