FDA Shares Update on Food-Related PFAS Activities

On May 31, 2023, FDA shared a constituent update on its PFAS[1] activities. The update explains FDA’s efforts to better understand PFAS in the general food supply, including recent testing results, seafood-related work, and advances in testing methods.

PFAS in the General Food Supply

Since 2019, FDA has tested foods for PFAS as part of its efforts to estimate dietary exposure to these substances. In its update, FDA shared test results from two regional collections consisting of 186 total samples. Consistent with its prior results, FDA detected PFAS primarily in seafood (two cod and two shrimp samples, and one sample each in tilapia and salmon) and in one sample of ground beef. FDA concluded that exposure to PFAS at the levels found in these samples is not likely to be a health concern for young children or the general population.

PFAS in Seafood

Because the limited available data on PFAS indicates that seafood may be at higher risk of PFAS contamination than other foods, FDA is taking steps to better understand PFAS in seafood. Except for canned clams from China, FDA concluded that none of the other PFAS exposures at the levels it has measured are likely to pose a human health concern. FDA believes that bivalve mollusks like clams, oysters, mussels, and scallops can bioaccumulate environmental PFAS more quickly than other seafood and therefore is pursuing additional bivalve mollusk sampling.

FDA urged the seafood industry to consider the risk of PFAS contamination and explained that it would take action if it detects PFAS at a level that raises safety concerns. The agency plans to continue to engage with industry on its current PFAS testing practices, ways to expand industry’s ability to test for PFAS in seafood, sources of PFAS in seafood, and potential mitigation strategies.

Advances in PFAS Testing

FDA has expanded its ability to detect specific PFAS in foods. In 2019, FDA could only detect 16 types of PFAS, but today it can detect 30 different types using chemical standards. It is working to further expand its ability to detect additional types of PFAS using high resolution mass spectrometry.

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