My son who is now in college has an anaphylactic response to peanuts, cashews, and once, strawberries. For some inexplicable reason he is no longer allergic to strawberries. However, his allergies that we identified when he was very young, have made us extremely aware of what we put in our mouths.
When my children were bottle feeding (after breast) I became aware of the endocrine disrupting chemicals in plastics. During the years I was gently heating up milk in plastic bottles, the general public including myself, did not know much about BPA's ability to leach into food—particularly when heated. (Rudel, et al, 2011, Adamkiewicz, 2015). Luckily, I happened upon an article in a lesser-known, "alternative" magazine that mentioned chemical leaching from plastics. The article advised not to microwave, just heat gently in hot water, which we now know also induces chemical leaching.
It is disconcerting to know that these studies ((Rudel, et al, 2011) on BPA exposure were published 15 years after I was heating up bottled milk and long after plastic was invented circa 1860, introduced commercially in the 1920s, and developed and advanced during and after World War II. Once again, it seems the moral of the story is to be precautionary when non-natural foods and food packaging and containers are introduced: wait a generation, at least!
Finally, despite the fact that I grow my own vegetables to consume for about 6 months of the year, I rely on plastic packaging all the time. Phthalates, in the wonderful Sculpy I unwittingly gave my kids to play with for years, are widespread in food packaging. Evidence shows that phthalates are anti-androgenic (Adamkiewicz, 2015) and are associated with the inhibition of testosterone synthesis "effects on the developing male reproductive system, male hormone levels and semen quality” (Rudel, et al, 2011). Even if I don't buy any processed food with plastic packaging, I toss my organic vegetables into the plastic bags at most grocery stores and buy bread, even if baked locally, encased in a plastic package.
How do we avoid this? In France, when you buy cheese, fish, chicken, or bread from a specialty store - a fromagerie, boucherie, boulangerie, etc. - the store attendant wraps the food in plain or waxed paper. And you can still buy yogurt in glass and ceramic, although less and less. I don't know if they do this because they always have or for fear of plastic. I did a quick Google search and didn't come up with anything. But I am sure there are some interesting reasons. If anyone knows the answer, please comment!
My answer, although highly imperfect, is to eat less processed food, make as much as I can from scratch using bulk food which I bring home unfortunately in plastic and dispense into glass jars, and buy little netted bags for fruits and vegetables—and remember to bring them to the store (a habit I need to encourage in myself!).
Yet, it is still difficult to avoid plastic packaging. Olivia's delicious organic mesclun and arugula, which I buy in the winter and early spring months, is boxed in plastic.
Adamkiewicz G. 2015. Lecture for From Farm to Fork. Harvard Extension School. October 14, 2015.
Adamkiewicz G. Chemicals Lurking in Your Food? Detox Your Diet! Harvard Extension Hub. ENVR129 Chemical Exposures Blog 2015 Adamkiewicz.pdf
Rudel RA, Gray JM, Engel CL, et al. Food packaging and bisphenol A and bis(2-ethyhexyl) phthalate exposure: Findings from a dietary intervention. Environ Health Perspect 2011. 119:914-920. doi:10.1289/ehp.1003170. At: http://www-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/pmc/articles/PMC3223004/