Microplastics are showing up in 2 breakfast favorites and scientists arent exactly sure why

Wake up and smell the coffee — your favorite breakfast foods may be riddled with plastic.Microplastics are ubiquitous in modern life, with evidence showing they’ve infiltrated everything from the beauty products we use to the clothes we wear and the air we breathe.Food is a major culprit, largely because of all the plastic it comes into contact with before landing on your dining room table.That’s why it’s probably not surprising that ultra-processed foods like instant ramen are notable sources of microplastic shedding.But what about the foods that come from nature?A new scientific review suggests that even whole foods like eggs and honey aren’t spared from the onslaught of microplastics.That’s plastic that builds up inside us and causes toxicity, research suggests — from damaging the heart, blood vessels and bones to suppressing our immune systems and messing with our hormones.Before you settle in with your morning tea and frittata, here’s what researchers found about two breakfast favorites.The average American consumes more than 270 eggs a year, or one egg about every day and a half.

A majority of US adults prefer to eat them on their own (like a fried egg), in omelets or in egg sandwiches.There are probably microplastics in them, the new review reports, pointing to a study from 2022.For that study, researchers opened uncooked eggs straight from the grocery and found about 12 particles of microplastics in the yolk and egg white.Most foods are getting contaminated with tiny bits of plastic because of the packaging and handling they go through on their way to you.What’s interesting is that these microplastics were found inside the most natural container in the world.Researchers propose that the bits got there because the chicken feed or water was contaminated, consumed by the laying hen and transferred to the egg.

This has not been established, so it’s just a theory for now, the authors emphasize.Cooking didn’t get rid of the microplastics, r...