PFAS in food: what they are, where they are found and what risks they pose
PFAS are chemicals found in the environment that can also enter our food. They are invisible, do not necessarily change how food tastes, and can only be detected through specific laboratory tests.
Understanding how they spread and the risks they pose is the first step towards appreciating the importance of food testing.
People looking for healthy food and safe food often wonder which contaminants or environmental pollutants may be present in the foods they eat. PFAS can reach water, fish, eggs and agricultural products, but levels vary and a food’s appearance cannot reveal whether they are present. This guide explains what scientists know about PFAS in food, possible health effects and the testing needed to detect them.
Scientific guide • 6 chapters
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1. What are PFAS?
PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are a large family of synthetic chemicals that have been used for decades in numerous industrial applications and consumer products.
Their defining feature is the presence of particularly strong carbon–fluorine chemical bonds. As a result, many PFAS break down very slowly in the environment and are commonly called “forever chemicals”.
They have been used, for example, in water-resistant coatings, grease-resistant materials, technical fabrics and firefighting foams.
Not all PFAS have the same properties or toxicity, but their persistence in the environment is a major concern.
2. How do PFAS enter food?
PFAS can be released into the environment during the manufacture, use and disposal of products that contain them.
From there, they can reach surface water and groundwater, contaminate agricultural soils and enter the food chain.
Plants can absorb certain PFAS through their roots; animals can ingest them through drinking water and feed. Some of these substances can accumulate in organisms and move along the food chain.
Certain food-contact materials may also contribute to exposure.
Two notable cases of PFAS contamination in Italy
The Miteni case – Veneto
The Miteni chemical plant in Trissino (Vicenza) was identified as the main source of extensive PFAS contamination of groundwater and surface water. The affected area covered more than 190 km² across the provinces of Vicenza, Verona and Padua, involving hundreds of thousands of people. In June 2025, the first-instance trial ended with 11 convictions for serious environmental offences, including environmental disaster and water poisoning.
The Solvay case – Piedmont
In Spinetta Marengo (Alessandria), the chemical complex historically operated by several companies, including Solvay (now Syensqo), is at the centre of a complex environmental contamination case involving PFAS. Investigations by ARPA Piemonte have documented these substances in groundwater, including outside the plant. Remediation measures, environmental monitoring and proceedings concerning responsibility for the pollution are ongoing.
Two authoritative references
Veneto Region — The Miteni case and the 2025 ruling
Veneto Region — The Miteni case
ARPA Piemonte — Monitoring and contamination at the Spinetta Marengo chemical complex
ARPA Piemonte — Spinetta Marengo
Mapping PFAS contamination across Europe
In February 2023, the French newspaper Le Monde, together with 17 European journalism partners, published the Forever Pollution Project, an investigation documenting the spread of PFAS across Europe. The investigation identified approximately 23,000 sites with confirmed contamination and more than 21,500 potentially contaminated sites. The data mainly concern water, soil and living organisms and can be explored through an interactive map.
Explore the interactive PFAS map of Europe → ↗
An important distinction: the map separates sites where PFAS have actually been detected from sites where contamination is only suspected.
PFOS in European waters
Explore monitoring data for European surface water and groundwater (2018–2022). This map coversPFOS, one specific substance in the PFAS family: it does not represent all PFAS.
Screenshot of the EEA interactive map. Use the link to the original source to explore the data in detail.
PFAS in pesticides
A lesser-known fact is that some pesticides used in agriculture also belong to the PFAS family. These substances are used as active ingredients in certain plant protection products and can leave residues on treated crops.
Some fluorinated pesticides can also break down into trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), a particularly persistent and mobile PFAS that can reach soils, water and agricultural crops.
This matters because such compounds may be a source of contamination directly linked to agricultural practices, in addition to contamination from industrial pollution.
In July 2026, EFSA updated its toxicological assessment of TFA, lowering the tolerable daily intake in light of new scientific evidence.
Further reading: EFSA — New TFA assessment (22 July 2026)
3. Which foods may contain PFAS?
PFAS have been found in several categories of food.
Food categories identified by EFSA as relevant to dietary exposure include fish, eggs, fruit and fruit products. Drinking water can also be an important source.
Concentrations depend on many factors: the properties of the substances, the extent of environmental contamination, geographical origin and production methods.
This does not mean that all foods in these categories are contaminated. PFAS presence and concentrations can vary considerably from one product to another.
PFAS accumulation in food: the issue of legal limits
An especially important issue concerns agricultural crops irrigated with water containing PFAS. Some of these substances can be taken up through plant roots and transferred to edible parts, where they may accumulate to significant concentrations.
The issue becomes even more significant when specific maximum PFAS levels have not been set for certain foods. This is the case for tomatoes and wine: EU legislation on food contaminants does not set specific limits comparable to those established for certain categories of meat, fish and eggs. This does not mean that these products are exempt from all regulatory controls, but rather that compliance with applicable rules alone does not guarantee the absence of PFAS.
Two studies illustrate the issue:
Tomatoes: a 2024 scientific study of plants grown in a contaminated area of northern Italy and irrigated with PFAS-containing groundwater demonstrated the accumulation of these substances in both leaves and fruits.
Scientific study — PFAS in tomatoes
Wine: a 2025 investigation published by PAN Europe found trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), an extremely persistent PFAS, in all 39 recently produced wines tested from ten European countries, at concentrations of up to 320 micrograms per litre. TFA can also arise from the breakdown of certain fluorinated pesticides.
These findings highlight a fundamental point: food contamination may exist even when no specific legal limit has been established for the substance being investigated. Only targeted testing can reveal its presence and concentration.
4. What are the health risks?
Long-term exposure to certain PFAS can have adverse health effects.
One of the effects considered by EFSA concerns the immune system, particularly a reduced antibody response to vaccination.
Scientific studies have also reported associations, for certain substances, with changes in lipid metabolism, effects on the liver, and developmental and reproductive problems.
In 2020, EFSA established a combined tolerable weekly intake of 4.4 nanograms per kilogram of body weight for four PFAS: PFOA, PFOS, PFNA and PFHxS.
This intake value refers to overall exposure over time, not to the permitted concentration in any individual food.
Risk therefore depends on the particular substances, the amounts taken in and the duration of exposure.
5. What does the law say?
The European Union has established maximum levels for certain PFAS in specific food categories, including eggs, meat, fish, crustaceans and molluscs.
The main reference is Regulation (EU) 2023/915, as subsequently amended.
For drinking water, EU legislation also sets parametric values of 0.10 micrograms per litre for the sum of 20 PFAS and 0.50 micrograms per litre for the parameter “PFAS total”. The corresponding EU monitoring obligations have applied since 12 January 2026, without prejudice to stricter national limits.
A legal limit does not mean the absence of contamination: a food can comply with the law while still containing measurable amounts of PFAS.
6. How can you tell whether food contains PFAS?
PFAS cannot be detected by looking at, smelling or tasting food. Determining their presence requires specific chemical analyses carried out by specialised laboratories.
How are PFAS analysed?
One of the most widely used techniques is liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS).
The food sample is first homogenised and subjected to an extraction process, generally using solvents, to isolate PFAS from the food matrix. The extract may then be purified before being introduced into the analytical instrument.
Liquid chromatography separates the different compounds, while mass spectrometry enables identification and quantification even at extremely low concentrations, often in the nanogram-per-kilogram range in food.
The reliability of results is improved through the use of internal standards, frequently labelled with stable isotopes.
What does LOQ mean?
Every analytical method has a limit of quantification (LOQ): the lowest concentration that can be measured quantitatively with adequate reliability.
A result below the LOQ therefore does not prove the absolute absence of a substance: it means the substance was not quantified at the sensitivity level of the method used.
It is also important to remember that each analysis targets a specific list of PFAS. A negative result for the substances tested does not guarantee the absence of every compound in this large chemical family.
Organic certification, although it provides assurances about the production method, does not by itself demonstrate the absence of environmental contaminants such as PFAS.
To establish whether the targeted PFAS are present in a food and at what concentrations, specific tests on the product are therefore necessary.
