Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a diverse group of thousands of chemicals used in hundreds of types of products. PFAS in the environment can enter the food supply through crops and animals grown, raised, or processed in contaminated areas. It is also possible for very small amounts of PFAS to enter foods through processing and cookware.

Because exposure to some types of PFAS have been linked to serious health effects, we are working to better understand PFAS in foods. Since 2019, we have:

Advanced testing for PFAS in foods by making available the first single lab validated scientific method for testing 30 different types of PFAS in a highly diverse group of foods.
Tested over 1900 samples of foods on the U.S. market.
Provided technical assistance to states, including testing over 400 samples from foods (not on the market) grown, raised, or processed in known areas of contamination.
Conducted human health assessments for individual PFAS detected in foods on the U.S. market and foods tested as part of FDA’s technical assistance to states.
Analyzed post-market scientific data on certain short-chain PFAS and negotiated voluntary market phase-outs. In February 2024, the FDA announced that all grease-proofing agents containing PFAS are no longer being sold in the U.S., and in January 2025, the FDA issued a Notice in the Federal Register announcing its determination that the 35 food contact notifications (FCNs) related to PFAS-containing food contact substances as grease-proofers applied to paper and paperboard food packaging are no longer effective based on the abandonment of these uses.

The FDA will continue to test foods collected through FDA’s Total Diet Study (TDS) to help inform U.S. consumers’ exposure to PFAS from foods. We are reviewing data from additional seafood testing, including a targeted sampling assignment of bivalve mollusks, such as clams, oysters, mussels, and scallops.

The results of our testing are summarized and posted throughout the year. If the agency finds that the level of PFAS in food may render it injurious to health, we take action, which may include working with the manufacturer to resolve the issue and taking steps to prevent the product from entering, or remaining in, the U.S. market. For example, in 2022, two firms recalled (products after FDA’s testing determined the levels of PFAS that may have rendered the products injurious to health. The FDA issued Import Alert 99-48, Detention without Physical Examination of Foods Due to Chemical Contamination, in 2024 to prevent entry of such food shipments into the US. Adding firms to an import alert is part of the FDA’s commitment to reducing potentially harmful exposures to chemical contaminants in the food supply.

Future FDA Risk Management Actions

The FDA continues to review data gathered through surveys, assignments, and other means (e.g., TDS analyses) in order to determine what risk management actions may be appropriate for PFAS. Currently, the FDA is considering the following areas as potential priority targets for future risk management actions, which could include setting action levels (or allowable levels in the case of bottled water):

Bottled water: The FDA is working on a regulation to establish levels for certain PFAS in bottled water. Consistent with section 410 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the FDA sets allowable levels for contaminants in bottled water when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets levels for those same contaminants in drinking water (unless certain exceptions apply). EPA issued a National Primary Drinking Water Regulation for PFAS in April 2024. EPA proposed amending its PFAS regulation in May 2026. The FDA is reviewing EPA’s regulations to determine what allowable levels for PFAS are appropriate in our standard of quality regulation for bottled water (21 CFR 165.110).
Seafood: The FDA continues to take action on PFAS contamination in seafood through the issuance of Import Alert 99-48 and the listing of eight firms on the red list due to PFOA contamination in imported clams. We are currently reviewing available data, such as the bivalve assignment mentioned above, to evaluate future actions, including but not limited to, additional risk management actions for clams.
Infant formula: In April 2026, the FDA released the first set of test results for contaminants, including 30 PFAS, in infant formula as part of Operation Stork Speed. The FDA plans to conduct further testing, including for additional contaminants; to continue to engage with manufacturers on measures to reduce the levels of contaminants to as low as possible; and to work to establish action levels for contaminants in infant formula.

Research, Testing & Analysis

Although PFAS have been in use for more than 80 years, scientific understanding and technical instrumentation needed to test for PFAS at very low concentrations in food has been ongoing since 2012. The FDA has been leading the science in developing validated methods for testing for PFAS in increasingly diverse types of foods. We are testing for extremely low levels of these chemicals—in the parts per trillion. We have extended our testing method to increase the number of PFAS that we can test for, informed by scientific literature, and have selected PFAS based on their expected uptake by foods and the availability of the chemical standards to accurately identify their presence.

The FDA is also expanding our research effort by using high resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS). This will allow us to determine which additional types of PFAS, beyond those we are specifically testing for with the current method, are present in foods and should be included in targeted methods going forward.

Most of our testing of the general food supply is of samples collected through the Total Diet Study (TDS). No PFAS have been detected above their method detection limit in over 95% (1290 out of 1352) of the fresh and processed foods tested from the TDS. One or more types of PFAS were detected in 69% (46 out of 67) of the seafood sampled in the TDS and in 74% (60 out of 81) of the samples from our 2022 targeted seafood survey.

For the samples where PFAS is detected, the FDA may conduct assessment for each type of PFAS for which there are toxicological reference values (TRVs). There are currently ten PFAS (PFOA, PFOS, PFNA, PFHxS, HFPO-DA ⌈GenX⌉, PFBS, PFBA, PFHxA, PFDA, and 6:2 FTS) for which there are TRVs that are used to assess the potential human health concern for levels found in food due to environmental contamination. Currently, the FDA evaluates these PFAS individually in food samples; however, we are exploring approaches for evaluating multiple PFAS cooccurring in samples. As science on PFAS continues to advance and new information becomes available, including new and updated TRVs for PFAS and data on cumulative exposure assessments, we may update our conclusions about the potential human health risks from certain levels of PFAS in food to ensure they reflect the most current scientific understanding.

For more information on our testing method and approach to assessing dietary exposure and for results from our recent sampling, please see: