July 1, 2021 | less than a minute read

FDA Releases Results of Further Food Supply Sampling For PFAS

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David Crass

Managing Partner, D.C. Office, Management Committee Member, Industry Group Co-Chair, Agribusiness, Food & Beverage

Get in touch

David Crass

Managing Partner, D.C. Office, Management Committee Member, Industry Group Co-Chair, Agribusiness, Food & Beverage

In its ongoing efforts to sample the nation's food supply for the presence of long-chain fluorinated compounds referred to as "forever chemicals", FDA released the results of its most recent sampling of 94 food samples, linked below. Although low-levels of PFAS were again present in seafood, the good news is that the nation's food supply continues to test safe. FDA is likely to perform a more targeted assessment of the nation's seafood supply.

Meanwhile, efforts to develop enforceable drinking water, cleanup and surface water standards as well as environmental response actions for the thousands of compounds this issue touches continue at the federal and state level.

"Results from our most recent testing for certain PFAS in foods from the general food supply show that all but one of the 94 food samples did not have detectable levels of PFAS. One sample—cod— had detectable levels of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), two types of PFAS. Based on the best available current science, the FDA has no indication that the PFAS levels in the cod sample present a human health concern. The foods tested were collected for the Total Diet Study (TDS) and represent a broad range of foods, including breads, cakes, fruits, dairy, vegetables, meats, poultry, fish, and bottled water, that are in the general food supply, which the average consumer might eat, and that were not specifically collected from areas of known environmental PFAS contamination.