In a single day, a 10-year-old child in Europe may be exposed through food to 128 chemical residues of 81 different substances. Forty-two of these substances are classified as “possibly or probably carcinogens”, and five as “certainly carcinogens”. No fewer than 37 substances are endocrine disruptors (ED).

This is the conclusion of a study published this month by a partnership of environmental groups based in France and Belgium: Générations Futures, the Health and Environment Alliance (Heal), Réseau Environnement Santé (RES) and WWF-France. The authors of the study bought food in supermarkets in Oise, north of Paris, and in the French capital, sufficient to give a typical 10-year-old three meals a day and a snack. The food was not organic but was consistent with a balanced diet.

The authors then asked independent laboratories to analyse the food, checking for possible residues of pesticides, dioxins, heavy metals, plasticisers (phthalates, bisphenol A or perfluorinated compounds [PFC]) and for food additives.

Their findings are instructive: 34 chemical substances were found in the fresh salmon, more than half of which are either carcinogens or EDs; the processed cheese contained six substances, all of which are carcinogens and EDs. The unsalted butter, served at breakfast, contained 15 residues, the beefburger (15% fat) contained 10, all of them carcinogens and EDs. Overall 128 chemical residues would have been consumed in a single day. Worse still, substances banned in France were found in a tin of green beans imported from Kenya and one forbidden substance in rice from Asia.