It is a significant claim, but leading expert Tamara Rubin has warned shoppers against buying peanut butter in plastic jars stating it is 'among the most toxic foods out there'.

Tamara Rubin is a leading US child health advocate who is well known for her work in testing a range of consumer goods for poisons such as lead and arsenic. She is highly regarded for her lead-poisoning research and has generated some world-changing headlines with her investigations into the extremely concerning levels of lead and arsenic that are found in some lines of vintage kitchenware and even in children's toys.

Peanut butter in plastic jars is among the most toxic foods out there. Image source: Shutterstock. ​

Rubin is now leading the charge in alerting consumers around the world to the potential dangers of purchasing peanut butter that is stored in plastic jars, stating that 'it's like eating plastic' and '[is] one of the most toxic foods you can purchase'. She went on to warn consumers by saying that even 'organic peanut butter should not be bought in plastic containers'.

According to Rubin, her colleague Lee Hitchcox originally wrote about the potential dangers in his book, Long Life Now: Strategies for Staying Alive. According to both experts, the concern is actually 'the way that peanut butter is processed before it is placed in plastic jars.'

'Most of the peanut butter on the grocery store shelves (even in many ‘natural foods’ stores) already contain pesticide and/or fungicide residues, tons of sugar and a host of other additives,' she claimed.

'Peanut butter must also be heated to flow through the machinery for it to be quickly, easily and consistently poured into jars (plastic jars are also often then heat-sealed – the sealing of the combination foil-type/plastic barrier that is usually found under the lid for food safety reasons.)'

'The concern is that the now hot oils/fats in the peanut butter help the plasticisers (in the plastic jars and lids) leach into the food, and along with all the other chemical residues and additives, make for an incredibly toxic product.'

It turns out that the plasticisers can bond to the oil in peanut butter as a result of the entire packaging process. This essentially means that when we eat peanut butter we are eating plastic, which is exactly why it is one of the most toxic foods you can eat. Who wants to spread plastic onto their morning toast? Certainly not me.

Plastic on toast anyone? Image source: Shutterstock.​

As a result, Rubin along with other experts are saying we should only buy peanut butter in glass jars. Although the glass jars of peanut butter are a bit more expensive, it does seem they are a lot better for our health, and in addition to that, we know they are much better for the environment too. Sounds worthwhile to us.

This information really makes you think how far food packaging has come since everything was in glass - from our milk to our peanut butter. It's genuinely concerning how much our food packaging has changed and how little we know about how this impacts our health. I buy peanut butter in a plastic jar all the time, and I had no idea about the potential effects this could have on my health.

Did you know about the effects of plastic packaging on food? Are you all for bringing back the old days of glass packaging, or bringing your pots and pans for restaurants to pop your takeaway in? Do you think we have strayed too far from our old habits, and need to bring them back?

 

[Brian Clarke]

Once again we are being told what to eat how to eat, when to eat how to cook, did no one listen to Mum and Dad, Grand father and Nan, I learned so much from them Both passed in late nineties , so I think life lessons are irreplaceable . What say you????

We are not being told what or how to eat in this instance, we are being warned about the container not what is inside it, plastic is a waste of resources and becomes toxic over time. Glass has always been the best container along with tin cans. Those blister packs that want to sever a finger when trying to get them open should be banned big time.