BREAKING NEWS : Dramatic discovery in the human food chain, is five a day killing us?

A STUDY in the journal Environmental Research has found that micro-plastics are being found in fruit and vegetables.

Environmental campaigners and researchers want to know the health implications of microplastics – which are tiny pieces of plastic that can be formed when larger plastics degrade – in food.

It has been known for years that micro-plastics have been found in the oceans, and as a consequence in seafood, however it’s now been found that they are in the air and soil as well.

The study from researchers in Italy and Tunisia, has found there to be a worrying amount of microplastics in apples, and carrots, with all root vegetables being able to absorb the plastic more easily, but the food above ground is not out of reach to the menace.

Bottled water has been proven to contribute more to the daily human intake of micro-plastics than fruit and veg, which is even more worrying since the bottled water industry sells around 200 billion one-litre bottles of water yearly.

Maria Westerbos (Founder of Plastic Soup Foundation campaign group) said: “If it is getting into vegetables, it is getting into everything that eats vegetables as well which means it is in our meat and dairy as well.

“What we need to find out now is what this is doing to us.”

We all know that it’s been the mantra of health gurus for years that we all need to eat our ‘five a day’ to help us stay healthy, however personally I have to say I’m not so sure any more.