To reduce your exposure to chemicals in plastic food packaging, experts recommend storing food in glass or stainless steel containers, and cooking more meals at home rather than buying prepared foods from supermarkets or restaurants. A 2017 study(24) in the journal Environmental Science and Technology found that one-third of U.S. fast-food packaging tested by researchers contained chemicals known as polyfluoroalkyl and perfluoroalkyl substances, which human and animal studies have associated with an elevated risk of high cholesterol, cancer, obesity, and immune suppression. “We have to be okay with unpackaged food, we have to be okay with local and seasonal food, we have to be okay with wonky and ugly food as well,” says Laura Boyes, who runs a zero-packaging grocery in London. “And we have to understand what happens to get all this food on our plate in a restaurant.”