Experts explain how real the risk is to your health.
What Is Proposition 65?
Though enacted in 1986, 2018 saw a number of new requirements added to the right-to-know law.
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That included more transparency in packaging, which covers notifying shoppers of around 900 different possible chemicals.
What if you dont live in California?
What Types of Food Are Labeled?
A lot of them, as it turns out.
Gleason adds that the list includes products that come from the ocean and could have absorbed mercury.
Pretty obvious, right?
Youre probably already careful about buying fish.
But some foods are less predictable.
Another big category is foods that are roasted or toasted, Gleason mentions.
That means that anything from pretzels to potato chips to bread may carry a label.
But not all products that might contain acrylamide are labeled.
Another prominent category is foreign-made products, like my curry roux, which is manufactured in Japan.
in particular, for trace heavy metal contamination, says Diaz Leiva.
(Forever chemicals are polyfluoroalkyl substances, which are chemicals that tend to linger in the environment.)
How Concerned Should I Be?
That depends on who you ask.
Theres no one-size-fits-all answer, says Gleason.
People still go on with their lives and make the choice to go to a restaurant, for example.
Like all food labels, theyre intended to provide information.
It doesnt ban the food or signal noncompliance with the government.
So it’s really dependent on who you are and what your particular concerns are, adds Diaz Leiva.
Similarly, baby food thats labeled may be a no-no.
But the choice is yours.
It also depends how often you partake in a particular product.
