FDA Let Companies Put Hormone Disruptors in Your Food for Years

The FDA announced it will assess four phthalates used in plastic food packaging as a group — chemicals that research shows can leach into food and disrupt hormones. This reverses the agency’s 2023 decision that rejected banning these substances. Environmental groups have been suing the government to force action on what they call “severe health risks.”

If you’ve ever wondered what chemicals are migrating from packaging into the food you eat every day, welcome to the party — it only took a lawsuit to get the FDA to wonder the same thing.

For years, packaging companies have used phthalates to make plastic containers soft and flexible, knowing these chemicals migrate into food but somehow forgetting to mention the health risks on the label. The FDA just shifted course after losing in court (shocking development, we know).

The agency’s reversal comes after environmental organization Earthjustice sued over the FDA’s 2023 denial of a petition to ban these chemicals. According to research published by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, phthalates can affect brain development and hormone regulation when they leach from packaging into food.

Apparently, it takes a federal lawsuit to make “chemicals that mess with your hormones probably shouldn’t be in your lunch” a priority.

Four Chemicals the FDA Will Finally Review Together

The agency identified these phthalates for group assessment based on similar chemical structure and health effects:

• DEHP — used in flexible plastic wraps and containers
• DBP — found in food packaging adhesives
• BBP — used in plastic bottle caps and seals
• DINP — common in food storage containers

This grouping allows regulators to assess cumulative dietary exposure — meaning they’ll look at the total amount you’re consuming from all sources, not just individual chemicals in isolation. Revolutionary concept: adding up the numbers.

The Incentive Structure That Delayed This Review

Packaging companies benefit from using cheaper phthalates instead of safer alternatives. The regulatory system allows them to keep using these chemicals until the FDA proves they’re unsafe — because why would we ask manufacturers to prove their products won’t harm people before putting them on shelves?

The FDA’s previous approach evaluated each chemical separately, making it nearly impossible to account for the combined exposure consumers face from multiple phthalates in their daily diet. Companies could argue each individual chemical was below harmful levels, even as the total exposure accumulated from breakfast containers, lunch wraps, and dinner storage.

Environmental groups had to sue to force the agency to consider cumulative effects — something that should have been standard practice for chemicals with similar mechanisms of harm. But here we are.

What Still Hasn’t Happened (Shocking, We Know)

The FDA hasn’t set a timeline for completing this review. They haven’t required companies to disclose phthalate use on packaging labels.

And they haven’t explained why it took three years and a lawsuit to realize that maybe — just maybe — they should look at these hormone-disrupting chemicals as a group.

What You Can Do

Submit comments on the FDA’s assessment through the federal regulations portal by June 26. According to the FDA’s announcement, they are seeking public input on their scientific assessment of these chemicals.

Check your food storage habits — heating plastic containers increases chemical migration. Use glass or ceramic containers for hot foods and microwave reheating.

Report chemical exposure concerns to the FDA through their MedWatch safety reporting system for adverse events related to food contact materials.

The FDA might be slow to act, but you don’t have to wait for them to protect yourself.

If chemicals in food packaging have affected your health, report it to the FDA or tell us about it.

Written by: Companies Behaving Badly

The team behind it all.