Author: Shawn Hussain

To end off, phthalates are shown to be very harmful chemicals for us to ingest through the research of the articles. As the first article showed us, phthalates help contribute to health problems such as heart disease and may cause some to develop symptoms early on. We have also been shown how disadvantaged communities due to consuming more processed foods are more at risk for health impacts from phthalates. These articles can definitely help some reflect on their dietary choices next time they decide to go out for fast food. The article also really did help me gain a new perspective on processed foods and how unhealthy these foods really can be. These articles surprised me by the fact that there are multiple types of phthalates that can be found in these foods. The research found in the third article surprised me to find that in even dairy products you can find phthalates. It did not surprise me to hear all phthalates are found in lards or fats since they generally contribute to heart complications which is one of the things phthalates are also known to contribute to. The research shown for phthalates affecting disadvantaged communities also really surprised me since I never thought of how since these processed foods are cheaper and easier to purchase than a home cooked meal that the phthalates are disproportionately harming these communities.

Annotation 2

1. Citation: Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, “Phthalates in Food Packaging and Food Contact Applications.” U.S. Food and Drug Administration, FDA, www.fda.gov/food/food-ingredients-packaging/phthalates-food-packaging-and-food-contact-applications 10/27/2021. 
2. Summary: The article details the work of researchers at the GWU to find harmful chemicals in the test samples of the 11 popular fast food outlets they chose. The research team at the GWU found harmful chemicals including phthalates in 10 of them. The researchers also found numerous other plasticizers in many of the fast food chains they have looked into. As stated with the previous article, these researchers also believe it is healthier to eat home cooked food. Two of the researchers at GWU, Edwards and Zota, believe there needs to be more scrutiny and regulations of harmful chemicals when making food due to the health effects. 
3. Reflection: This source was useful since it showed the data from the research and gave us expert opinions on the topic.
4. Rhetorical analysis: I believe the article has a degree of credibility since it was published by a university, they provide contact information and the information was provided in a timely manner.The information can be found elsewhere by other publications which helps make the information a little more credible. A pitfall of this article is it does not have an author but the fact a university published the story could help it’s ETHOS. 
5. Short analysis:  I believe the choosing of the article genre for this story could be good for its audience since maybe researchers who want to write about the story prefer using the web to obtain their information. 
6. Quote: “Disadvantaged neighborhoods often have plenty of fast food outlets, but limited access to healthier foods like fruits and vegetables,’ Zota said. ‘Additional research needs to be done to find out whether people living in such food deserts are at higher risk of exposure to these harmful chemicals.” This can tell us that people in disadvantaged communities can be more likely to be exposed to health risks of processed food and developing disease in the long run. Which in turn can help us determine another reason for why phthalates need to be controlled since people who may not have access to as many healthy resources due to financial reasons get a more unfair outcome.

Annotation 3

1. Citation: Serrano, Samantha E, et al. “Phthalates and Diet: A Review of the Food Monitoring and Epidemiology Data – Environmental Health.” BioMed Central, BioMed Central, 2 June 2014, ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1476-069X-13-43. 
2. Summary: The article showed us the different types of foods or products such as dairy, grains and oils and showed the findings of phthalate levels in these foods and products. It also showed us how some of the toxic chemicals found in these foods can negatively impact the reproductive system. They have also shown intervention studies that aim to help reduce phthalate exposure and some of the interventions have helped reduce the levels by as much as 56%.
3. Reflection: I believe this article was helpful since it actually gave us the in-depth tests and research that the team went through to find the phthalates in the foods. It showed us the different types of phthalates and how prevalent they are in the foods that were tested with their research trials shown to us as evidence.
4. Rhetorical analysis: What makes this article credible was the fact that the authors were listed, however there is no contact information listed. The publisher is listed on the website and they do have an option on their website for leaving feedback. This information seemed to be provided in a timely manner and can be found through other sources as well. 
5. Short analysis: I believe choosing the genre of article was a good choice for the audience since it may have been trying to inform the general public with information in a format that is not too long.
6. Quote: The article shows us “All phthalates were detected in oils and fats including butter, margarine, cooking oils and animal fats such as lard”. Since mainly oils and fats are used in processed foods, this shows to us how unhealthy consuming these products can be. The information also can help us see why some of these products contribute to certain health disadvantages due to having an unhealthy amount of phthalates which contribute to heart disease.

Phthalates and processed food

It is common knowledge that processed food is unhealthy for you and if eaten should be done so in moderation at the least. However, there are certain chemicals used within processed foods that are concerning and surprising and may make one wonder why they are even put in processed food. One of these chemicals, phthalates, is used in plastics to make them more durable, vinyl flooring, lubricating oils and even hair sprays. This may lead some to wonder, why are phthalates in processed food, how do phthalates affect our personal health? Do phthalates somehow contribute to developing certain types of diseases? This paper will dive deeper into these topics and show the usage of this chemical in processed foods and why any company would even think of using this chemical in a food product. Sources will be detailed and cited to help us get more of an accurate look at this chemical and its need for being used in processed foods. The sources will also help us determine if phthalates have adverse health effects on us and see how big of a threat to the population the chemical may be. This paper will also take a look into potential diseases that can be partially developed due to consuming food with phthalates in them.

The first article we will be looking into is “Recent Studies Raise Concerns About Phthalates in Foods” Regan Murray https://www.nycfoodpolicy.org/phthalates-found-in-foods-raise-health-concerns/ Nov 10 2021. The article details to us “Testing found that plastic gloves, often blamed for phthalate contamination, contained lower levels of the chemicals than the food items themselves. As a result, researchers concluded that processed foods must pick up phthalates through contact with multiple phthalate-containing surfaces along the supply chain. Recent studies by scientists with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have also found detectable levels of phthalates in fast food packaging and food processing materials, suggesting that conveyor belts and tubing are potential sources of phthalate contamination.” This shows to us that it is likely not even intended to be in the foods on purpose like companies putting additives in cigarettes to make the product more addictive, it likely is just due to contact with equipment used when creating and packaging these products. The article also shows us “previous studies found that people who regularly consume premade and fast food meals exhibit 35 to 40 percent higher phthalate levels than those who usually cook at home.” We can see through this that cooking at home is more beneficial to your health since ultra processed foods are likely not monitored and checked well enough. The source details numerous concerns of this chemical such as an increased risk of heart disease and even “exposure to changes in the gene expression of cardiac cells”. The source seems to be very informative and helpful in helping us understand the dangers of phthalates. The source could also very well be credible since the author lists their name, sources, it was published by hunter college, information was provided in a timely manner. The author’s contact information is not listed but contact information to the site is listed which could help boost the credibility. I believe choosing the genre of e-newsletter is right for the intended audience since it’s likely intended for students that may be researching health policies through the internet.

To add on, the second article we will be taking a look at is Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, “Phthalates in Food Packaging and Food Contact Applications.” U.S. Food and Drug Administration, FDA, www.fda.gov/food/food-ingredients-packaging/phthalates-food-packaging-and-food-contact-applications 10/27/2021. The George Washington University researchers say that  “Disadvantaged neighborhoods often have plenty of fast food outlets, but limited access to healthier foods like fruits and vegetables,’ Zota said. ‘Additional research needs to be done to find out whether people living in such food deserts are at higher risk of exposure to these harmful chemicals.” This can tell us that people in disadvantaged communities can be more likely to be exposed to health risks of processed food and developing disease in the long run. The article details the work of researchers at the GWU to find harmful chemicals in the test samples of the 11 popular fast food outlets they chose. The research team at the GWU found harmful chemicals including phthalates in 10 of them. The researchers also found numerous other plasticizers in many of the fast food chains they have looked into. As stated with the previous article, these researchers also believe it is healthier to eat home cooked food. Two of the researchers at GWU, Edwards and Zota, believe there needs to be more scrutiny and regulations of harmful chemicals when making food due to the health effects. This source was useful since it showed the data from the research and gave us expert opinions on the topic. I believe the article has a degree of credibility since it was published by a university, they provide contact information and the information was provided in a timely manner. A pitfall of this article is it does not have an author but the fact a university published the story could help it’s ETHOS. I believe the choosing of the article genre for this story could be good for its audience since maybe researchers who want to write about the story prefer using the web to obtain their information. 

Lastly, we will cover the article by Serrano, Samantha E, et al. “Phthalates and Diet: A Review of the Food Monitoring and Epidemiology Data – Environmental Health.” BioMed Central, BioMed Central, 2 June 2014, ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1476-069X-13-43. 

The article shows us “All phthalates were detected in oils and fats including butter, margarine, cooking oils and animal fats such as lard”. Since mainly oils and fats are used in processed foods, this shows to us how unhealthy consuming these products can be. I believe this article was helpful since it actually gave us the in-depth tests and research that the team went through to find the phthalates in the foods. It showed us the different types of foods or products such as dairy, grains and oils and showed the findings of phthalate levels in these foods and products. It also showed us how some of the toxic chemicals found in these foods can negatively impact the reproductive system. They have also shown intervention studies that aim to help reduce phthalate exposure and some of the interventions have helped reduce the levels by as much as 56%. I believe choosing the genre of article was a good choice for the audience since it may have been trying to inform the general public with information in a format that is not too long.

To end off, phthalates are shown to be very harmful chemicals for us to ingest through the research of the articles. As the first article showed us, phthalates help contribute to health problems such as heart disease and may cause some to develop symptoms early on. We have also been shown how disadvantaged communities due to consuming more processed foods are more at risk for health impacts from phthalates. These articles can definitely help some reflect on their dietary choices next time they decide to go out for fast food.

It is common knowledge that processed food is unhealthy for you and if eaten should be done so in moderation at the least. However, there are certain chemicals used within processed foods that are concerning and surprising and may make one wonder why they are even put in processed food. One of these chemicals, phthalates, is used in plastics to make them more durable, vinyl flooring, lubricating oils and even hair sprays. This may lead some to wonder, why are phthalates in processed food, how do phthalates affect our personal health? Do phthalates somehow contribute to developing certain types of diseases? This paper will dive deeper into these topics and show the usage of this chemical in processed foods and why any company would even think of using this chemical in a food product. Sources will be detailed and cited to help us get more of an accurate look at this chemical and its need for being used in processed foods. The sources will also help us determine if phthalates have adverse health effects on us and see how big of a threat to the population the chemical may be. This paper will also take a look into potential diseases that can be partially developed due to consuming food with phthalates in them.

The first article we will be looking into is “Recent Studies Raise Concerns About Phthalates in Foods”. The article details to us “Testing found that plastic gloves, often blamed for phthalate contamination, contained lower levels of the chemicals than the food items themselves. As a result, researchers concluded that processed foods must pick up phthalates through contact with multiple phthalate-containing surfaces along the supply chain. Recent studies by scientists with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have also found detectable levels of phthalates in fast food packaging and food processing materials, suggesting that conveyor belts and tubing are potential sources of phthalate contamination.” This shows to us that it is likely not even intended to be in the foods on purpose like companies putting additives in cigarettes to make the product more addictive, it likely is just due to contact with equipment used when creating and packaging these products.

Recent Studies Raise Concerns About Phthalates in Foods

Murray

While “Five Minds For The Future” by Howard Gardener has an intriguing story, I believe “When I Was Puerto Rican” by Esmerelda Santiago is better. The story of “When I Was Puerto Rican” comes off more intriguing to me due to its discussion of a child who doesn’t want to be held back in school due to a language barrier. Esmerelda Santiago wanted to prove to her peers that she could do higher level work . She had pushed Mr Grant to let her have a chance to improve her English and he gave her until Christmas. This had intrigued me since it was considered a rebellious action to her and her mother which I would imagine would discourage most from speaking up but Esmerelda still pushed for what she wanted which was an interesting turn of events to me.  Also seeing as how although Esmerelda Santiago got stuck in a class that she did not belong she put in her best efforts to improve and was even later regarded by the school for her high marks. “Five Minds For The Future” by Howard Gardener did still have likeable elements to it I wasn’t really connected to it as it felt like I was reading a textbook in the way it was presented from its way of explaining things like the disciplined mind and how it “takes 10 years to master discipline” which felt uninteresting to me.