Quick take
- Move takeout onto a real plate or into a glass container when you get home, and don’t reheat it in the box. Consumer Reports gave both tips after its 2022 packaging tests.1
- Paper bags and molded fiber bowls had the highest PFAS levels in those tests, and warm food sitting in them for a long time is the case to worry about most.1
- In February 2024 the FDA said PFAS grease-proofing coatings for paper food packaging were no longer being sold in the U.S.3 That’s good news, but it doesn’t mean every wrapper now has zero PFAS.4
- A “compostable” or “eco” label doesn’t tell you about PFAS. Every eco-labeled item Consumer Reports tested had at least some organic fluorine.1
What to do
- Unpack it when you get home. Consumer Reports says the longer food sits in packaging, the more likely PFAS are to move into it, especially warm food in paper bags or molded fiber bowls.1
- Reheat on a plate, not in the box. CR advises against reheating food in its original packaging.1 Glass or ceramic is a good choice, and the AAP also suggests avoiding microwaving food in plastic.7
- Store leftovers in glass, foil or silicone. Those are the materials CR suggests moving takeout into.1 Our [food storage guide](/cookware/food-storage-containers/) compares them.
- Pop your own popcorn now and then. Eating popcorn was linked to higher blood PFAS levels in a large U.S. study.2 Kernels popped in a pot or an air popper never touch a coated bag.
- Don’t lean on green labels. CR found organic fluorine in every product with an environmental claim, and several topped 100 parts per million.1
Not medical advice
This guide explains what packaging tests and regulators have reported. It isn’t medical advice. If you have a health concern about chemical exposure, talk to a qualified clinician.
What the tests found
In 2022 Consumer Reports tested multiple samples of 118 food packaging products from 24 restaurant and grocery chains for total organic fluorine, a screen for PFAS as a group.1
| Finding | Number |
|---|---|
| Products with organic fluorine detected | More than half1 |
| Products above 20 ppm (Denmark’s threshold, which CR supports) | 371 |
| Products above 100 ppm (California’s legal limit) | 221 |
| Products from chains claiming to cut PFAS that still had detectable fluorine | 13 of 13 (7 above 20 ppm)1 |
Low levels were possible, though. Almost every chain also had products under 20 ppm, and CR’s food policy director said the results show retailers can use packaging with very low PFAS levels.1 CR notes its results aren’t representative of all of a chain’s packaging, and packaging may have changed since the tests.1
See the evidence: what the screen can and can’t tell you
Total organic fluorine catches PFAS that targeted tests miss. In CR’s follow-up on about 50 products, the 30 specific PFAS the standard test can identify made up less than 1% of the organic fluorine found. PFOA was the most frequently detected of those compounds.1
The FDA points out the flip side. Total fluorine methods can’t tell PFAS apart from other fluorine-containing substances that aren’t a concern, and very sensitive tests can pick up PFAS that got into packaging as a contaminant, for example from water used in manufacturing.4
Microwave popcorn
A 2019 study in Environmental Health Perspectives looked at blood PFAS levels and diet records for Americans in the national NHANES survey from 2003 to 2014.2
- Eating popcorn was linked to significantly higher blood levels of PFOA, PFNA, PFDA and PFOS. People who ate popcorn daily over a year had up to 63% higher PFDA.2
- Microwave popcorn made up about 85% of the popcorn people reported eating, and the authors say the link may come from PFAS moving out of the bags.2
- More calories from food eaten at home were linked to lower levels of all five PFAS studied, and the link was stronger in women.2
This was an observational study. It shows associations, not proof that popcorn bags caused the higher levels, and the data predate the FDA’s 2024 phase-out.23
What changed, and what didn’t
- The FDA phase-out. PFAS grease-proofers were used on fast-food wrappers, microwave popcorn bags, takeout paperboard containers and pet food bags. In February 2024 the FDA said manufacturers were no longer selling them for food contact in the U.S.3 In January 2025 it declared 35 related authorizations no longer effective, with a June 30, 2025 compliance date for some packaging made before January 6, 2025.5
- Why that matters. The FDA says grease-proofers on paper were the only authorized PFAS use that could lead to dietary exposure of potential safety concern.4
- What’s left. PFAS can still show up in packaging as an impurity or contaminant, which the FDA doesn’t authorize.4
- California. Since January 1, 2023, plant-fiber food packaging sold there can’t contain intentionally added PFAS or 100 ppm or more of total organic fluorine. That covers takeout containers, wrappers, liners, straws and disposable plates and bowls.6 Other state rules are in our state PFAS laws guide.
What we don’t know
- We found no published U.S. test of takeout packaging done after the FDA’s 2024 announcement, so we can’t say how much levels have dropped. The FDA says it has a screening method to monitor the market, but we found no published results from it.5
- CR’s 2022 results name brands, but packaging changes, so we don’t repeat them here.1
- We didn’t cover plastic takeout containers, foam or inks in depth.