Greenpeace Finds 11,000+ Microplastics Per Baby Food Pouch. Globowl CEO Demands Industry Switch To Glass

(MENAFN- EIN Presswire) EINPresswire/ -- Baby food pouches contain thousands of microplastic particles, Greenpeace report finds. Now one baby food CEO is calling on the industry to switch back to glass.

Globowl CEO Erica Bethe Levin, whose baby food has shipped in glass jars since 2020, says the data confirms what she built her company around. She's challenging every pouch brand to publish a transition plan.

For decades, baby food came in glass jars. Then, starting around 2010, the industry moved to plastic pouches. By 2023, pouches made up 60% of U.S. baby food sales, up from 6%. That's a 900% shift in 13 years.

Parents were told pouches were more convenient. Portable. Easy for on-the-go feeding. What they weren't told is that the switch happened because pouches are cheaper to manufacture, cheaper to ship, and last longer on a shelf.

Last week, a Greenpeace International report revealed the health risks to babies. Testing by Norwegian lab SINTEF Ocean found more than 11,000 microplastic particles in a single pouch, and up to 99 particles per gram of food. The lab also detected a probable endocrine disruptor migrating from the packaging into the food itself. The pouches were tested at room temperature. The contamination comes from the polyethylene lining that sits against the food and the plastic spout that babies suck on.

The tested products all carried labels like“organic,”“BPA-free,” and“non-GMO.” None of those labels cover packaging materials.

The major brands responded by saying their products meet current regulations. But current regulations don't address microplastic migration from food packaging at all.

One Company Stayed with Glass

A mom-on-a-mission, Erica Bethe Levin founded Globowl in 2020 and chose glass jars from the beginning because she didn't want plastic touching her kids' food, and wasn't happy with the sea of single-use plastic pouches full of mush that dominated the baby food aisle. Every Globowl product still ships in glass.
“Glass jars were the standard for generations,” Levin said.“The industry left them behind because pouches are cheaper, not safer. Now we have lab data showing what that tradeoff actually costs. Turns out convenience for manufacturers isn't the same thing as safety for children."

Globowl sells internationally-inspired baby and toddler meals in more than 300 U.S. retail locations, including 72 Fresh Thyme stores, plus Amazon, Thrive Market, Buy Buy Baby and Globowl. Recipes are developed in conjunction with James Beard and Michelin-recognized chefs, and backed by a board of pediatricians and pediatric experts. Levin is a Tory Burch Foundation Fellow, a Target Accelerator graduate, and a Medill-trained journalist who spent 20 years as a food writer before starting the company.

A Challenge to the Rest of the Industry

The global baby food market is worth $84 billion. Globowl is calling on baby food brands to switch back to glass, a format that existed for decades and whose supply chains still exist.

“I'll sit down with any company that wants to know what the switch costs and how it works,” Levin said.“Glass is harder and more expensive. I chose it anyway because children deserve the healthiest start to their lives. They don't get a choice here, so parents need to make that for them.”

Erica Bethe Levin is available for TV, podcast, print, and radio interviews. She can speak to the Greenpeace findings, the business economics behind the pouch takeover, the federal STOMP microplastics program, pending legislation, including the Microplastics Safety Act, and what parents using pouches can do today.

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