Is it safe to eat fried food from grease-resistant paper?
Use caution. Hot fried food in grease-resistant paper is a higher-concern packaging setup.
What's actually in it
Grease-resistant paper is designed to stop oil from soaking through. Some products use PFAS for that job. Others use different coatings, and some brands have phased PFAS out.
The concern is not one order of fries. It is making hot, oily food in grease-resistant paper a regular routine.
What the research says
A 2022 study in Food Chem tested PFAS migration from treated paper food-contact materials under high-temperature conditions with real foods and food simulants. The study found PFCA and FTOH migration into foods and estimated child dietary PFAS exposure above EFSA's proposed safety threshold in its scenarios.
A 2017 U.S. fast-food packaging study in Environ Sci Technol Lett found detectable fluorine in 46% of food-contact papers and 20% of paperboard samples.
When you can, move fried food to a real plate or bowl quickly. At home, use stainless steel, cast iron, porcelain, or glass instead of grease-resistant paper.