FoodPrint of Food Packaging Report.

 Wondering which plastic containers to avoid and which are safe to eat from? How to learn about chemicals in food packaging? Or how to make sure you are buying BPA-free foods? Do you assume all plastic food packaging is recyclable? These questions ­— and so much more — are all answered in our recently published FoodPrint of Food Packaging Report.

But sometimes you just want an answer, not to read a report, and we get that. Which is why we recently held a Twitter chat with Dr. Martin Mulvihill, researcher and advisor at the Berkeley Center for Green Chemistry and general partner with Safer Made, a mission-driven venture capital fund that invests in companies that remove or reduce the use of harmful chemicals in products and manufacturing processes. As a consultant on FoodPrint’s packaging report, Mulvihill was the perfect person to break down the nitty-gritty of food packaging and answer all our questions about “forever chemicals,” recycling and more.

Mulvihill shared his expertise with our audience about all things food packaging, and we’ve gathered his answers here:

The current global food system is very different than it was for our grandparents. Our globalized market has opened the doors to give us access to new foods and more food that must be distributed further and stay fresh longer. Foods that were once only available seasonally are now in our markets year-round. Foods keep longer and many include added nutrients that may help keep us healthy.

Today’s consumer expects food that is safe, nutritious, affordable, and convenient. Chemicals play an important role in many of the advances in our current food system. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) protects consumers by regulating the use of chemicals as food ingredients or substances that come in contact with food, during food packaging, processing, or other handling.

Here are some facts about chemicals in food