FDA Rejects Petition to Set PFAS Limits in Food

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration rejected a legal petition seeking enforceable limits on two PFAS compounds in seafood and milk. The agency stated there is insufficient evidence to support the requested thresholds and announced plans to develop non-binding action levels that would not require removal of affected products from shelves.

Background on the petition The Tucson Environmental Justice Task Force filed the original petition in November 2023. The group later narrowed its request to advisory thresholds for PFOA and PFOS in seafood and milk after the agency missed the six-month statutory response deadline.

FDA testing found the chemicals in 70 percent of seafood samples. Independent testing detected them in 12 percent of 50 milk samples, including elevated levels in two national brands.

Health and exposure concerns PFAS compounds have been linked to cancer, birth defects, decreased immunity, high cholesterol, and kidney disease. The Environmental Protection Agency has identified food as the largest source of human exposure. The chemicals enter the food supply through pesticides, packaging, sewage sludge used as fertilizer, and contaminated water used in processing.

"If it’s important enough to regulate in water then we need to regulate it in food – that’s a no-brainer," said Sandra Daussin, an attorney for the Tucson Environmental Justice Task Force. The group said it will sue to compel the agency to set thresholds.

The FDA conducts limited annual testing and adjusted its detection methodology in 2019, which reduced the number of samples flagged as contaminated from 182 to 78.