<< Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)

Is the food supply safe?

The U.S. food supply is among the safest in the world. The FDA is working to understand the occurrence of PFAS in the general food supply by testing for certain PFAS chemicals, including perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS). To date, we have found that most foods not grown or produced in specific geographic areas contaminated with PFAS do not have detectable levels of PFAS.

For good nutrition and for food safety, the FDA recommends that consumers eat a varied, well-balanced diet. See more information on the Federal Dietary Guidelines website.

For more information, please see Testing Food for PFAS and Assessing Dietary Exposure.

How is the FDA addressing PFAS in foods?

To better understand the exposure to PFAS from foods for people in the United States, we are focused on testing foods from the general food supply. We are also providing technical consultation to states, when requested, to help determine if there is a potential health concern for foods that are grown or produced in specific geographic areas contaminated with PFAS.

For more information, please see Testing Food for PFAS and Assessing Dietary Exposure.

In addition, we continue to review available data to ensure that the limited authorized uses of PFAS in food contact applications are safe. For example, in the spring of 2020, the FDA published findings from our post-market scientific review and analysis of data from rodent studies on certain types of PFAS that are authorized for use as food contact substances. The data raised questions about the potential human health risks from dietary exposure resulting from these substances used as grease proofing agents on paperboard packaging (for example, take-out packaging). The FDA contacted the manufacturers about the safety questions raised regarding these food contact uses, and the manufacturers voluntarily agreed in July 2020 to phase out their sales of these compounds.

For more information, please see Authorized Uses of PFAS in Food Contact Applications.

Should I stop eating particular foods to reduce my PFAS exposure?

There is no scientific evidence that supports avoiding particular foods in the general food supply because of concerns regarding PFAS contamination. Foods that are associated with areas of environmental contamination may or may not pose a risk. Research has shown that PFAS contamination in the environment where food is grown or produced does not necessarily mean the food will contain detectable levels of PFAS. This is because the amount of PFAS taken up by foods depends on many factors, including the specific type of PFAS and type of food.

How does the FDA determine if a food from a contaminated area is safe?

When states identify foods that are grown or produced in a specific geographic area of contamination, they can contact the FDA to request technical assistance. The FDA may assist with analyzing samples, assessing the safety of levels found, and consulting on methodologies for testing. We work with local and state partners, as well as other federal agencies, to determine the actions needed to address any food safety risks and, if necessary, prevent the food from entering the marketplace if determined to be a health concern.

What levels of dietary PFAS exposure cause adverse health effects in humans?

Most of the research on PFAS and health effects is based on two types of PFAS, perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS). There have been many studies linking PFOA and PFOS to certain health effects. There are, however, thousands of PFAS chemicals, hundreds of which are used in a wide range of industrial and consumer products. Within PFAS there is a wide range of chemical structures with very different chemical and physical properties. The associated health effects for many of the different PFAS are unknown. Therefore, filling this knowledge gap is a top research priority for federal agencies.

When the FDA finds a detectable level of a chemical contaminant in food, such as PFAS, the agency conducts a safety assessment to evaluate whether the level detected presents a possible human health concern and warrants further FDA action. The FDA’s approach considers a number of factors, including whether there is an established action level or tolerance, how much of the specific food people typically eat, the level of the contaminant detected in that food, and the toxicity of the specific contaminant(s).

For more information about the FDA’s safety assessment approach, please visit: Testing for PFAS and Assessing Dietary Exposure.

How is the FDA estimating the occurrence of PFAS in the general food supply?

To understand the occurrence of PFAS in foods, the FDA first had to develop reliable analytical methods to detect and measure these very complex chemicals in foods. In 2012, we began testing for certain types of PFAS in milk and later expanded testing to seafood and cranberries. In 2019, we were able to expand and validate the testing method with a diverse group of foods including breads, cakes, fruits, dairy, vegetables, meats, poultry, fish, and bottled water for 16 types of PFAS. We posted our validated method in October 2019 and optimized this method for processed foods in 2021. In 2022, we announced that we extended the analytical method to test for 20 types of PFAS.

For more information, please see Testing Food for PFAS and Assessing Dietary Exposure

The food samples the FDA is currently analyzing to understand the occurrence of PFAS in the general food supply are part of the foods collected for the Total Diet Study (TDS). The TDS is conducted on an on-going basis and serves as the FDA’s primary method of monitoring levels of various pesticide residues, contaminants, and nutrients in foods. PFAS are not currently part of the TDS. Results from the initial testing of PFAS in foods will be used to determine how the FDA will monitor PFAS in foods going forward, including whether steps should be taken to include certain PFAS in the TDS, and/or if targeted sampling assignments are necessary for certain foods.

For more information, please visit Total Diet Study.

What has the testing for PFAS in foods shown so far?

Since December 2019, the FDA has conducted numerous surveys designed to measure certain PFAS in foods generally and from specific areas with environmental contamination. Of the 532 Total Diet Study (TDS) samples tested for PFAS, there were ten samples with detectable levels of certain PFAS, eight were seafood, including: three samples of tilapia, two samples of cod, one sample of fish sticks, one sample of shrimp, and one sample canned tuna. The other two samples with detectable levels of PFAS were protein powder and ground turkey.

For publications from our previous work and data tables from our more recent surveys, please see Analytical Results of Testing Food for PFAS from Environmental Contamination.

Do the results mean I should avoid certain foods in the general food supply?

Currently, there is no scientific evidence that supports recommending consumers avoid particular foods in the general food supply.

For seafood, while there have been eight samples out of the 532 Total Diet Study samples tested that had detectable levels of PFAS, other types of seafood included in this limited testing were not found to have PFAS. As part of a healthy eating pattern, fish and other protein-rich foods have nutrients that may offer health benefits for children and adults.

The FDA is currently conducting a targeted survey (80 samples) of PFAS in the most commonly eaten fish and shellfish seafood in the U.S. The results from this survey will be used to determine if additional sampling, either targeted or with greater numbers of samples, of fish and shellfish is needed.

For recreationally caught fish, the FDA recommends that consumers check their state fish consumption advisories. A searchable list of fish advisory websites maintained by states, territories, and tribes is available on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s website.

Why does the FDA allow PFAS to be applied to food contact surfaces, like non-stick pans?

PFAS are a very broad group of chemicals, and they act differently under different uses. This is why they are found in a wide variety of products, including everything from stain resistant clothing to firefighting foam, and also are used in some food contact applications. There are several different types of PFAS that the FDA has evaluated and are approved for use in food contact applications.

Some PFAS are approved for use in the manufacture of non-stick cookware coatings. These coatings are made of molecules that are polymerized (i.e. joined together to form large molecules) and applied to the cookware through a heating process that tightly binds the polymer coating to the cookware. Studies show that this coating contains a negligible amount of PFAS capable of migrating to food. Similarly, the PFAS used in manufacturing of gaskets that come into contact with food do not pose a safety risk because they are also made of molecules that are polymerized.

The PFAS approved for use on paper or paperboard (to prevent grease from going through them) can potentially migrate to food. The FDA conducts a rigorous premarket safety review to ensure that the use of specific PFAS chemicals in food contact applications is safe. Due to questions on the potential human health risks from certain PFAS authorized for this use, those PFAS will be phased-out subject to the voluntary agreements.

For more information, please see Authorized Uses of PFAS in Food Contact Applications.