"Package food: Safe or Not?Now a days we hardly relied on the unpackaged food product, whenever we went to the marketfor buying a food product we give preference to the food that are packed rather than un packagedone. The reason of this we all think that the packaged product is contamination free. We all arescared of microorganism that it should not enter into our body rather than chemicals. Thedifferent type of packaging material are used for packaging different types of food such as paper,plastic, Glass, Aluminum, Steel etc. There are many examples of the chemical migration fromthe packaging material into the food product.The chemical may migrant form the material that are used to make that package forpackaging or the chemical may migrant from the ink which is used to write detail of the productform the packaging material into the food product. The type of packaging material used largelydetermines the extent of, migration of chemicals into food. The common example of this isbisphenol A or phthalates. BPA is used to make polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins coatingsof the can so it could migrate from the can to milk powder. There is evidence which show thatBPA compound may adversely affect the brain (Figure 1) and prostate gland in fetuses, infants,and children. Figure 1: Effect of BPA on brain developmentPhthalates (esters of phthalic acid) are used in food packaging. Phthalates can migrate into foodproduct and can affect the reproduction/ development in human being especially in males. Thewater which is packaged in glass bottle contains about 26-57 times more lead than othercontainer. The food product which are wrapped in the plastic like PVC when heated in amicrowave the PVC may migrateinto the food product if heated at a temperature greaterthan100°C.The chemicals such as per fluorinated compounds (PFC) which are widely used in foodpackaging are found in Teflon cookware, microwave popcorn bags when enter in your bodythrough food, it can weaken the ability of vaccination jabs to protect young children. Banning of the food product is not a solution rather than the packaging material should beused that does not affect the health. In order to ensure public safety, national and internationalregulatory bodies such as FDA, EFSA need to carefully review all the packaging material. So, whenever you are buying a food product is ensuring that your food product is not only safe frommicroorganism but also from the chemicals.References:1. Muncke, Jane. "Endocrine disrupting chemicals and other substances of concern in foodcontact materials: an updated review of exposure, effect and risk assessment." The Journal ofsteroid biochemistry and molecular biology127.1 (2011): 118-127.2. Shotyk, William, and Michael Krachler. "Lead in bottled waters: contamination from glassand comparison with pristine groundwater." Environmental science & technology 41.10(2007): 3508-3513.3. Raheem, Dele. "Application of plastics and paper as food packaging materials–Anoverview." Emirates Journal of Food and Agriculture 25.3 (2012): 10-9755. "