More than three dozen health experts and advocacy groups have urged The Kraft Heinz Company to take steps to remove phthalates from its food processing and packaging.
The coalition sent a letter last week to Kraft CEO Miguel Patricio, calling on the food and beverage company to commit to eliminating phthalates from its food packaging, “including cap gaskets, printing inks, and adhesives,” and to help phase out the use of the class of chemicals from its supply chain.
“We are dedicated to advocating for food preparation, packaging and production practices that support the health and wellbeing of communities and ask that Kraft Heinz be an industry leader in this area by ensuring its supply chain is free of phthalates,” the groups said.
Several retailers have pledged to stop using any type of phthalates, often used to soften plastic food contact materials. The American Chemistry Council has criticised such broad bans on the entire class of esters as “misguided.” NGOs and other academics, meanwhile have called for greater regulation of the class of esters.
Kraft Heinz did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publishing.
The coalition – led by the Learning Disabilities Association of America and the Environment Health Strategy Center – noted that scientific studies have shown that “daily cumulative exposure to phthalates” can pose health risks to pregnant women and children. A recent study in Canada found a potential association between phthalate metabolites in pregnant women and autistic traits in children.
“Given these preventable health risks, don’t you want to make a greater effort to replace any toxic food-contact chemicals in your supply chain with safer alternatives?” the groups asked in their letter to Kraft CEO Mr Patricio.
The coalition also called on Kraft to identify phthalates that may be present in “every part” of its food processing equipment and find suitable replacements, and commit to work with suppliers to phase out the use of phthalates in dairy farm equipment or other upstream providers.
Signatories to the letter included disability organisations from 22 states, the chair of Harvard’s Department of Environmental Health, and public health experts from several other universities.