Food Delivery Is up During COVID-19, with Unintended Consequences for Health and the Environment
On November 30, the Food Packaging Forum, a Switzerland-based nonprofit foundation, published a new database of more than 12,000 chemicals that may potentially be used in food packaging by manufacturers around the world. In an accompanying article published in the journal Environment International, researchers behind the database flagged more than 600 of these chemicals as highly hazardous to humans, and as top priorities for removal from food-contact materials.
The database and analysis also reveal:
The number of food-contact chemicals that have not been subject to any toxicological research
How unforthcoming the food packaging industry has been in disclosing the chemicals used in its products
The limits of existing regulations in ensuring that food packaging is safe
We’re Using More Food Packaging Because of COVID-19
When the world could no longer eat together in restaurants at the beginning of this year, many of us turned to take-out, delivery and fast food.
Online meal delivery revenues in the United States are projected to reach $26.5 billion this year, a 20 percent increase over 2019. San Francisco-based delivery service DoorDash, which operates in the United States, Canada, and Australia, has seen business skyrocket during the pandemic. The company was valued at more than $39 billion upon going public on December 9.
In the United Kingdom, which has a population of 66 million, nearly 19 million people are estimated to have ordered food delivery directly from a restaurant this year, a 19 percent increase over 2019. And more than 10 million used a third-party delivery service, a 25 percent jump. The CEO of London-based delivery app Deliveroo estimated earlier this month that COVID-19 has accelerated the already-trending adoption of online prepared food delivery by two to three years.
However, with these trends has come an increasing use of disposable food service ware and all attendant threats to both human health and the environment.
Orb Media Is Here To Help: What Are Reasonable Choices To Make Given What We Know About Food Packaging & Waste?
Can we still get takeout from our favorite eatery, support them during this tough economic time, and minimize both our chemical exposure and the broader environmental impacts associated with disposable containers, tableware and cutlery? Ideally, takeout and delivery would be served in glass, stainless steel or ceramic — materials that are safe and reusable — as opposed to the single-use plastic that is far more common today.
Disposable packaging is sometimes unavoidable. All disposable food service products, whether made of plastic, paper, or plants, involve compromises and trade-offs between environmental impacts, chemical safety, performance, cost and even appearance. No material or product is perfect — but some are far better than others.
Orb Media developed a new, reliable methodology to evaluate the merits, hidden risks and impacts of the disposable foodware that is increasingly seen on our tables — and in our waste bins. The methodology comprises information from interviews of 16 food packaging safety and sustainability experts, many of them recognized as leading experts in the field. We also reviewed dozens of reports, studies and articles.
How To Use This Information
Many of us are using more takeout and delivery services than ever before. These provisions help us and others stay safe, as well as keep our favorite local restaurants open. This however has come at significant, albeit hidden, costs to both the environment and, paradoxically, our own health. As the pandemic drags on, these costs continue to pile up for communities around the world. Wherever there is disposable food packaging, there are bound to be impacts.
Yet there are ways to reduce environmental harms and health threats associated with producing, using and disposing of foodware. This reporting package, including background information, a packaging assessment methodology, a list of preferred materials and products, as well as supporting interviews, references and resources, is available for use in newsrooms worldwide, by anyone who seeks to understand and address these urgent issues.
By signing in or registering for a free account on Orb Media, you’ll have access to our global overview of disposable food packaging trends during COVID-19, health and environmental consequences, a methodology and product list to support new choices, and a variety of original additional materials to help you localize this issue. Anyone can become part of Orb Media’s Network as long as they agree to follow our terms and conditions.
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