Does white cheese from the store contain microplastics?

What's actually in it

Cheese is processed, sliced, and packaged using plastic equipment, wraps, and containers. Polyethylene, polypropylene, and PET are all in contact with cheese at some point during production and storage. Microplastic particles can flake off processing equipment, shed from packaging, and end up embedded in the product you bring home.

What the research says

A 2026 study in Food Res Int developed a method to detect and measure microplastics in white cheese. The researchers tested commercially available products and analyzed what they found.

Every cheese sample contained detectable microplastics. The particles were mostly polyethylene and polypropylene, the same plastics used in food packaging and processing equipment. The sizes ranged from visible fragments down to microscopic particles.

The study estimated dietary exposure and found that people who eat cheese regularly are getting a steady dose of microplastics from this source alone. Combined with microplastics from other foods, bottled water, and air, the total daily intake adds up.

Hard cheeses that undergo more processing and handling may contain more particles than soft cheeses. Cheese sold in plastic-wrapped slices has more contact time with packaging than cheese cut fresh at a deli counter. Choosing cheese wrapped in paper or wax paper reduces one source of plastic contact.