Microplastics as a Threat to Meat Consumption, Review

Abstract

The world population increasingly consumes about 300million tonnes of meat up to 2018. As this trend continues due to the increasing world population, plastic becomes necessary to preserve meat, required to meet its corresponding demands. Plastics in the meat industry were of immense benefits that have turned into an environmental burden. This is because they protect meat and other products from spoilage but contain many contaminants in the form of microplastics (MPs) additives and trapped carbons. These contaminants significantly contribute to the health risks meat pose and other global environmental concerns. A further concern is that consumers may likely not be aware of the safety risks of these MPs and their additives. Educating the meat consumers through proper labeling of the plastic packaging with straightforward and understandable terms for MPs migratory possibilities rather than industrial terminologies may likely guide the consumer against MPs consumption.

Keywords

• microplastics
• safety
• health risks
• concerns
• meat
• packaging