From toys to bottles, blankets to clothing, babies are surrounded by plastic. No human born today can fully avoid it, and yet our children may be more vulnerable to its possible impacts. As a new parent myself, I have been shocked by the rows of plastics pouches filling up the baby food aisles. The plastic campaigner in me saw only one thing – a mouth full of microplastics.
Every day, millions of babies around the world happily snack on pureed food packaged in “squeeze and suck” plastic pouches. These colourful and convenient meals-on-the-go dominate the baby food aisle of supermarkets worldwide, and have become a staple for many families. But growing concerns about our daily exposure to plastic and harmful chemicals raise a big question for the global consumer goods companies driving the baby food pouch trend. Could Nestlé and Danone be exposing babies to microplastics and harmful chemicals?
Nestlé and Danone under the microscope: what our tests found
In Greenpeace International’s new report – Tiny Plastics, Big Problem: The Hidden Health Risks of Plastic Pouches for Baby Food, we dig into the worrying topic of babies’ exposure to microplastics through a popular packaged food. We commissioned an independent lab to investigate Nestlé’s Gerber brand yoghurt-based puree and Danone’s Happy Baby Organics brand fruit-based puree packaged in plastic spout pouches. The tests found microplastics present in the food of both products.
In a gram of food – the weight of one little raisin – the Gerber pouches contained up to 54 microplastics on average, and the Happy Baby Organics pouches contained up to 99 microplastics on average. That’s equivalent to up to 270 and up to 495 microplastics per teaspoon, or an estimated total of more than 5,000 particles in each Gerber pouch and more than 11,000 in each Happy Baby Organics pouch.
The evidence suggests a link between the type of plastic the pouches are lined with – polyethylene, and some of the microplastics found. The results also suggest the presence of a range of chemicals present in both the packaging and the food, including a known endocrine disrupting chemical in the Gerber yoghurt product.
This raises serious health concerns for the babies eating these products. And it casts a shadow over the entire baby food aisle. Plastic-free options are increasingly limited, and certainly not accessible to all parents.
Nestlé and Danone know they have a plastic problem. They just don’t know how to prioritize people over plastic. And governments aren’t holding them to account.
A multilayered disaster for humans and the planet
The scientific literature reinforces the warning signs shown by our research. Our report explains how this new study is the latest in a growing body of research investigating baby food packaged in multilayered, flexible plastic pouches and plastic food storage. As new evidence emerges, it consistently points towards microplastic and chemical exposure, and this is true across multiple types of plastic products.
We already know too well how plastic packaging is weakening the planet’s immune systems – worsening the biodiversity and climate crises across its lifecycle. Plastic packaging represents about 40% of global plastic production and waste. It has caused waste management systems to buckle under immense, sustained pressure. Costing taxpayers, and governments.
The more plastic companies produce, the more exposed we are. Plastic packaging that makes its way into the environment eventually breaks down into microplastics that circulate through ecosystems, move up food chains, and enter our bodies through air, water or food.
Whether we are directly or indirectly exposed to microplastics and associated chemicals via packaging, we know that breaking free from the plastic crisis means breaking free from plastic packaging.
System change on plastics is a public health imperative
Together, Nestlé and Danone account for a whopping 40% of the global baby food market, with Nestlé leading the industry overall. With such a huge market reach comes added responsibility to drive the industry in the right direction for the good of its customers and the planet. But these corporate giants are no strangers to plastic pollution-related scandals.
Nestlé and Danone have repeatedly been two of the top plastic polluters globally, according to community clean-up brand audits by the Break Free from Plastic movement. They pump out upwards of a million tonnes of plastic packaging each year, playing a significant role in creating and sustaining the current plastic crisis.
Nestlé and Danone must urgently commit to swap pouches for non-toxic, plastic-free reusables and refill systems for baby food. After years of calls to actionto reduce their reliance on plastic packaging, this should serve as a wake-up call that the cost of inaction could be eaten by the next generation.
Governments have more than enough information to apply the precautionary principle, and take immediate action. It’s time to close the policy gaps and work nationally and globally to eliminate harmful plastics and chemicals, and accelerate a shift to healthier and accessible reuse-based systems.
Join me in taking action to stop plastic pollution at the source. Add your name to the petition urging Canada to support a a strong Global Plastics Treaty that prioritizes human health, cuts global plastic production and consumption, and stops another plastic generation.
Si les leaders de ce monde font preuve de suffisamment d’audace, un traité mondial sur les plastiques ambitieux pourrait mettre fin à l’ère du plastique pour de bon. Rejoignez la campagne dès maintenant!
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