New York advocates want to limit plastic packaging for baby food.
A Greenpeace report found around 11,000 microplastic particles in each Danone Happy Baby Organics pouch and an estimated 5,000 in a Nestle Gerber Organics pouch. Despite widespread support, the state’s Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act failed to make it out of committee.
Erica Cirino, communications manager for the Plastic Pollution Coalition, said passing bills is challenging because of the plastic-friendly political atmosphere.
“Businesses are more encouraged to use plastic than others because of the price point. Plastic is so heavily subsidized by, specifically, the U.S. government but also other governments around the world,” Cirino explained. “It is seen as kind of the default, easy, inexpensive option.”
The bill calls for manufacturers to reduce plastic packaging by 30% over 12 years, with the first 10% reduction required by 2027, and calls for a modest fee on packaging, paid by product producers, with the money going to local taxpayers.
More than 30 municipalities across New York passed resolutions supporting and urging the state legislature to pass the bill since data show it would save the state more than $1 billion in its first decade as a law. It can be challenging to find alternatives since Consumer Reports data showed traces of microplastics and chemical plasticizers in glass jars of baby food, albeit at lower levels than plastic pouches.
From personal experience, Cirino noted one of the best options for parents is making baby food themselves.
“It’s super simple: choosing whole fruits and vegetables, throwing them in a glass blender or chopping into child-size pieces. That’s one way; storing them in glass or food-grade stainless steel containers, serving them on stainless steel,” Cirino recommended.
Research shows exposure to microplastics for toddlers and babies poses unique risks to developing organs and a high risk of inflammation. A New York University Langone Health study found two chemicals used to make plastic more flexible were linked to almost 2 million premature births and the deaths of 74,000 newborns in 2018.
Edwin is a reporter and producer in North Tonawanda, New York. He’s previously reported for the Niagara Gazette and the Ithaca Times. Edwin got an early start in radio interning for WBFO-88.7FM, NPR’s Buffalo affiliate. In 2018, he graduated from SUNY Buffalo State College with a B.A. in Journalism, and in 2022, graduated from Syracuse University with an M.S. in Communications.