FDA is sharing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) results for six additional Total Diet Study (TDS) regional collections collected in 2024, adding to the eight TDS collections already posted on the Analytical Results of Testing Food for PFAS from Environmental Contamination webpage. The goal of this ongoing sampling is to better understand background contamination levels, U.S. consumers’ average exposure to PFAS from foods, prioritize foods for future monitoring, and guide further FDA activities.
A summary of PFAS results for these six additional TDS collections are as follows:
- 503 of 542 (92.8%) samples had no detections
- 39 of 542 (7.2%) samples had trace detections of one or more PFAS analytes:
- cod, shrimp, clams, salmon, tilapia, catfish
- pepperoni, beef steak, ground beef, chicken breast
- half & half, whole milk, skim milk
- kale
- 4 of 39 samples had non-trace detections of one or more PFAS analytes:
- shrimp, clams
- catfish, tilapia
To estimate dietary exposure to PFAS from the general food supply, the FDA has been testing fresh and processed foods for certain PFAS since 2019. Results for PFAS testing of TDS samples began for the first time in 2019. It is important to note that to date no PFAS have been detected in 95% (1,290 out of 1,352) of the fresh and processed foods tested from the TDS. TDS data can show how much contamination is present and help estimate possible exposure, but they should not be used on their own to decide whether something is safe or harmful to health.
In the past six years, the FDA has made significant progress in understanding PFAS and is leading the science in developing validated methods for testing for PFAS in increasingly diverse types of foods. Based on our validated methods, FDA currently tests for up to 30 PFAS in various foods, including bread and grains; fruits and vegetables; meat, eggs, and dairy products, including milk; and seafood. To date, the FDA has tested over 1,900 samples of food for PFAS through TDS and targeted assignments and surveys.
The FDA will continue to pursue additional sampling to better understand PFAS in the U.S. food supply.
Changes to the PFAS Website
First, to improve transparency and provide greater context about our analytical findings, we have updated our reporting to include both Method Detection Limits (MDL) and Limits of Quantification (LOQ), rather than relying solely on MDL values. Results are now categorized as follows:
Below MDL: Not detected
Above MDL but below LOQ: Trace levels reported in italics
Above LOQ: Quantifiable levels reported
Second, we are now including an additional toxicological reference value for assessing the safety of perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA) levels found in food.
Future PFAS Testing
The FDA will continue to analyze TDS samples for PFAS with the goal of estimating U.S. consumers’ dietary PFAS exposure to help inform FDA’s activities to reduce PFAS levels in food. Testing will analyze a wide array of foods through TDS, including bread and grains; fruits and vegetables; meat, eggs, and dairy products, including milk; and seafood. The FDA will continue to work closely with our federal partners and state departments of agriculture and health to share information and enhance collaboration in our efforts to gather a more robust dataset of PFAS in foods as we work together to reduce the public’s dietary exposure to PFAS.