Question by Francesca Olivieri

After reading about the problem with foods stored in plastic I started wrapping individual portions of chicken and meat in wax paper then putting them in a plastic freezer bag to freeze. Is this any safer?

Plastic wrap that is sold for consumer use mostly no longer contains phthalates. Instead, manufacturers have phased-out the phthalates and now most household wraps contain chemicals called adipates, which are less well-studied but appear to not be as worrisome. The wraps that may still contain phthalates are the ones used for commercial purposes (ie. the meat or cheese you buy at the store). You'll notice that those wraps are a lot 'clingier', which is not a good sign in this case. I usually look for meat and cheese that isn't wrapped in plastic (ie. buying meat at the meat counter or butcher shop, and buying cheese at a cheese shop). When you purchase food wrapped in cling wrap, you can check the date and try to buy something that was recently wrapped in the store. I actually do use household plastic wrap at home, but try not to store things for very long wrapped that way. For longer-term storage, your solution sounds like a good one. I'll try it!