ACSH - Innocent Plastics Wrongly Blamed For Belly Bulge

ACSH staffers offer Wall Street Journal reporter Allysia Finley a seat at the table for her piece underscoring the lack of evidence supporting the claim that phthalates and BPA have contributed to the obesity epidemic. According to Stephen Perrine and Heather Hurlock, authors of The New American Diet, “obesogenic” foods  — those containing pesticides and plastics — allow our bodies to store more fat. As Ms. Finley aptly points out, however, these chemicals have been prevalent for over 50 years, while obesity did not significantly increase until about 1980.

Chemist Dr. Joe Schwarcz at McGill University’s Office for Science and Society further debunks claims that the trace levels of chemicals found in foods have an effect on obesity. “Every day people are exposed to hundreds of thousands of natural and artificial chemicals which would show very similar effects if run through these sensitive tests,” he tells the Journal.