The damage it causes the junk food It is very well documented, but now a group of scientists have found phthalates, a very harmful chemical substance, in some foods that are sold in the most popular fast food chains in the United States. These findings were published in the Nature magazine.
Researchers at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health analyzed 64 samples of burgers, fries, chicken nuggets, chicken burritos, and cheese pizzas from chains like McDonald’s, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Domino’s, Tex-Mex Taco Bell and Chipotle, but only in the city of San Antonio, Texas.
What did they find in the junk food?
The scientists found, after using gas chromatography mass spectrometry, that the products had that 81% and 70% of those foods contained DnBP and DEHP phthalatesIn addition, they found that food handling gloves contain substitute plasticizers, which can be one of the sources of food contamination.
About, Lariah Edwards, author of the analysis and postdoctoral researcher at the School of Public Health of the Milken Institute of George Washington University, affirmed that this does not only remain in the academic field, since it is “worrying” to find these substances in the most consumed foods.
Phthalates are added to plastics to make them softer and can be transferred from plastics used for food handling; these substances have been linked to:
- Reproductive problems
- Impairments on learning and attention in children
- Asthma and childhood allergy
- Limitation of lung function in adult men
- Anomalies in male genital development
- Alteration of testosterone levels
- Gynecomastia in male adolescents
- Behavioral disturbances
It adds to the problem of obesity due to junk food
According to Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) junk food abuse is one of the main causes of overweight and obesity, as its source is rich in fat, sodium and sugars. In the same way, it is the cause of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which are usually chronic and / or of long duration and which also progress slowly, such as diabetes, heart disease and various types of cancer.
With data from UNICEFCurrently, our country ranks first in childhood obesity and second in adults. This situation has remained constant in recent years, probably this permanence has to do not only with the addiction generated by junk, but also with the perception of what is healthy. As an example, regarding the diet of Mexicans, less than half of the population does not consider junk products to the French fries, soft drinks and garnachas cooked with a high amount of fat, and which, on the contrary, are thought to be nutritious.
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