This is an archived article and the information in the story may be outdated. Please check the time stamp on the story to see when it was updated last.
If you are hoping to live a paraben-free life, you might have to check more than just your beauty products. Parabens are probably hiding in your favorite foods as well–even the ones you consider healthy.
According to NPR, “Scientists in Albany, N.Y., found [parabens] in 90 percent of the food they bought in local markets — they wrote about it in a 2013 study published by the journal Environmental Science & Technology.”
Keep reading for all the details.
Parabens are used as a preservative in many foods, including many tortilla brands, which means they're likely somewhere in your pantry or fridge.
You don't necessary have to throw everything away though. NPR spoke to Dr. Mokoto Mukai, who studies food safety at Cornell University, about the potential dangers of parabens in your food. According to her, the study that provoked so much concern about parabens in food (a 2004 study published in the Journal of Applied Toxicology) lacked a control group, making the results less clear.
She explained the study: "[T]heir suggestion was that deodorant was causing breast tumors."
However, they did not compare the paraben levels in a patient with a breast tumor to a patient without one, which makes the science less clear. "Because they didn't have a patient without a breast tumor, they didn't have a control group. So that [research] doesn't really tell us anything," she explains.
With that in mind, Dr. Mukai does not think that you need to purge your cabinets of every sign of parabens since there is no direct link between parabens and cancer. She explains, "Parabens have been used for more than 50 years ... and they are safe."
However, more research on parabens is necessary to know exactly how they might impact you.
Likewise, if you do want to restrict the amount of preservatives in your food, it is a good idea to check your favorite foods' packaging for any parabens or other preservatives.
