by Claudia Boyd-Barrett posted in Parenting

Hormone-disrupting chemicals could be lurking in your kids? mac and cheese, according to a new report.
Phthalates, a type of chemical linked to birth defects and brain development problems in children, have been found in high concentration in 10 out of 10 boxes of macaroni and cheese tested by researchers.
Sorry health-conscious shoppers, that includes organic boxed mac and cheese.
Another 20 cheese products were also tested as part of the research, funded by a coalition of food safety advocates. These included sliced cheese, string cheese, cottage cheese, and hard cheese. All but one contained phthalates.
However, the cheese powder in boxed mac and cheese topped them all with phthalate levels four times higher than in hard cheese. (Sliced cheese placed second, with three times the phthalates of hard cheese, according to the report).  
It?s not that manufacturers are deliberately adding these chemicals to food. Phthalates are used in plastics, packaging, and processing equipment, and can migrate into food and drink. Fatty foods such as oil and cheese are particularly vulnerable because phthalates bind with fat. In fact, Europe won?t allow manufacturers to use certain phthalates in plastic if it comes into contact with fatty foods.
In the U.S. the federal government has banned phthalates from children?s toys, but not from food. Environmental and food safety groups want that changed and are calling on the Food and Drug Admini...