Forever chemicals, known formally as PFAS, show up most consistently in seafood, meat, dairy, and leafy greens, with additional exposure coming from food packaging and contaminated drinking water. The FDA’s ongoing testing of the American food supply has detected PFAS primarily in meat and seafood samples, while the majority of other foods tested show no detectable levels.
The picture is more nuanced than a simple list of “bad” foods, though. How much PFAS ends up in your food depends on where it was grown or raised, what packaging it came in, and even how your water supply factors into the equation.
Seafood Has the Highest Risk
The FDA has identified seafood as the food category most likely to carry PFAS contamination from the environment. This makes sense: PFAS are water-soluble and accumulate in aquatic ecosystems, where fish and shellfish absorb them over their lifetimes. Shellfish like crab and shrimp, along with certain fish species like striped bass, have shown concentrations ranging from 1 to 6.29 parts per billion of PFOS, one of the most studied forever chemicals. Frozen tilapia has tested at much lower levels, around 0.087 ppb.
The levels vary widely depending on species, location, and whether the fish is wild-caught or farmed. Fish from contaminated waterways near industrial sites or military bases tend to carry far higher PFAS loads than fish from cleaner waters. Freshwater fish are generally a bigger concern than ocean-caught species because rivers and lakes concentrate PFAS from runoff.
Meat and Dairy Products
Cattle, and other livestock raised on contaminated land or given contaminated water, pass PFAS into their meat and milk. About 78% of the PFOS found in cattle comes from their feed, according to the European Food Safety Authority. When cows consume PFAS-contaminated feed, roughly 14% of the PFOS and about 2.5% of another common PFAS compound transfer into their milk.
Raw milk samples have shown total PFAS concentrations averaging 0.15 nanograms per milliliter, with one compound (PFOA) making up more than half of the total. These aren’t enormous numbers in absolute terms, but milk is something many people consume daily, which means even low concentrations add up over time. The FDA’s broader food testing confirms that meat samples, alongside seafood, are the most common food category where PFAS turns up.
Leafy Greens and Other Produce
Vegetables absorb PFAS from contaminated soil and water, and leafy greens are the biggest accumulators. Lettuce and spinach take up roughly 2.4 times more PFAS than root vegetables like carrots. In studies measuring contaminated growing conditions, leafy vegetables averaged total PFAS concentrations of about 9.24 nanograms per gram in their edible parts.
The type of PFAS matters here. Short-chain varieties, especially one called PFBA, dominate what ends up in the leaves, making up 69 to 82% of the total PFAS found in edible plant tissues. These shorter-chain compounds are small enough to move freely through the plant’s internal barriers and travel up into leaves and fruit. Longer-chain PFAS tend to get stuck in the roots.
Leafy vegetables also absorb airborne PFAS directly through tiny pores on their leaf surfaces, giving them a double route of exposure that root vegetables don’t have. Among all vegetable types, PFAS concentrations in edible parts follow this order: leafy vegetables (highest), fruit-bearing vegetables, tubers, then root vegetables (lowest). This doesn’t mean you should avoid salads. It means that produce grown on land fertilized with contaminated sewage sludge, or irrigated with contaminated water, carries a meaningfully higher risk.
Food Packaging and Processed Foods
PFAS are deliberately added to grease-resistant food packaging: think microwave popcorn bags, fast-food wrappers, and takeout containers. These chemicals migrate from the packaging into the food itself, especially when the food is hot or greasy. PFAS have been detected in paper, plastic, coated metal, and rubber food contact materials. In plastics, they’re used during manufacturing as mold-release agents, and breakdown products can leach out over time, particularly at high temperatures.
Specific packaged foods where PFAS has been detected include cereals, bakery products, pastries, and confectionery, though typically at very low levels (under 150 parts per trillion). Fast-food packaging has shown levels below 500 ppb. A large study using U.S. national health survey data from 2003 to 2018 found a complicated relationship between processed food and blood PFAS levels. Eating more ultra-processed food was linked to higher levels of some PFAS compounds, but surprisingly, eating more unprocessed and minimally processed food was also associated with higher levels of other PFAS types. This likely reflects the fact that whole foods like fish, meat, and leafy greens pick up PFAS from environmental contamination, while processed foods pick it up from packaging and manufacturing. The sources differ, but both routes contribute.
Drinking Water
Water isn’t food, but it’s worth mentioning because it’s one of the largest contributors to overall PFAS intake. Municipal water supplies near industrial sites, airports, and military bases are the most affected. The FDA tests food for PFAS at the parts-per-trillion level, and many of the same compounds found in food are also found in tap water.
Health Effects of Dietary PFAS
PFAS exposure through diet has been linked to a range of health problems. The strongest evidence points to immune suppression. In children, a doubling of PFOS levels in maternal blood was associated with a 39% drop in antibody response to diphtheria vaccination, with reduced immune response persisting through age 13. Children with higher prenatal PFAS exposure also showed increased rates of respiratory infections, throat infections, and diarrhea through age 10. Broader research has connected PFAS exposure to altered thyroid function, liver disease, disrupted cholesterol and insulin regulation, kidney disease, adverse reproductive outcomes, and cancer.
How to Reduce Your Exposure
You can’t eliminate PFAS from your diet entirely, but you can meaningfully reduce how much you take in. The most impactful step for many people is filtering their drinking water. Reverse osmosis systems and dual-stage filters remove 90% or more of measured PFAS compounds. Under-sink filters and even filtering pitchers help, though basic carbon filters struggle with some shorter-chain PFAS. Bottled water is an alternative, though some brands contain detectable PFAS as well.
For food, a few practical choices make a difference:
- Limit greasy takeout packaging. Grease-resistant wrappers, bags, and containers are among the most common sources of PFAS migration into food. Transfer food to your own plates and containers when possible, and avoid microwaving food in its original packaging.
- Vary your seafood choices. Eating a range of species from different sources spreads out your exposure rather than concentrating it. Check local fish advisories if you eat freshwater fish.
- Be aware of your produce sources. Farms that use sewage sludge (biosolids) as fertilizer are more likely to have PFAS-contaminated soil. This information isn’t always easy to find, but buying from farms that don’t use biosolids reduces risk.
- Skip microwave popcorn bags. These are one of the most frequently cited sources of PFAS from packaging. Stovetop or air-popped popcorn avoids the issue entirely.
Some states are already taking action on the packaging front. Minnesota banned intentionally added PFAS in food packaging starting January 2024, and expanded prohibitions to cookware and other product categories in 2025. Several other states have passed similar laws. The FDA currently evaluates detected PFAS against toxicological reference values for ten specific compounds, taking enforcement action when levels indicate a health concern.