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A systematic scoping review of environmental, food security and health impacts of food system plastics

Nature Food volume 2, pages 80–87 (2021)Cite this article

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Abstract

Plastic pollution arising from food systems is driving policies for reduction, removal, reuse and recycling, but literature on plastic uses and outcomes across subsectors is fragmented. We use a systematic scoping review to describe the extent, range and nature of published evidence since 2000 on seven major plastic types used at any point within food systems and their quantifiable effects on the environment, food security and human health. Although the majority of publications focus on agricultural production, relatively fewer consider retail, household and food waste disposal plastics. Gaps in the research include evidence from low- and middle-income countries, health or food security and/or economic outcomes generated from human population studies—and the subsequent environmental and human health effects. A greater understanding of this disparate evidence landscape is essential to formulate coherent research strategies to inform potential policy actions and assess trade-offs across economic and environmental targets, human health and food security.

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Fig. 1: The logic model describes potential relationships between food systems’ uses of plastics and the intermediate and final outcomes.
Fig. 2
Fig. 3: Food system subsectors and outcome domains covered in eligible studies for the review.
Fig. 4: Plastic use (exposure) and outcome categories under the three impact domains.
Fig. 5: Number of publications by plastic type and impact domain.
Fig. 6: Frequency of study designs used to investigate the effects of plastic use in different food system subsectors.

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Data availability

The data for this review are available as an open access interactive gap map, accessible online via https://anh-academy.org/foodplastics_EGM.html. The search strategy and coding framework are available as Supplementary Information. Citations of studies eligible in this review are available in alternative formats from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. Source data are provided with this paper.

Code availability

The full coding strategy used for data extraction and analysis of studies included in our review is provided in Supplementary Methods 3.

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Acknowledgements

This review was conducted in partnership with the Campbell Collaboration, for which we acknowledge the wider support of A. Saran, V. Welch, A. Bhavsar and A. O’Connor, as well as the EPPI Reviewer team at the University College London, which includes J. Brunton, Z. Grouze and S. Graziosi. We thank J. Eyers for his specialist input in crafting our search strategy. Substantial contributions were also made by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Campbell-affiliated data screeners and coders, which include L. Hishi, A. Noubani, N. Ashley dela Cruz, P. Hawkins and A. Clarke. We express thanks to E. Joy, T. Sparling and T. Galloway for ad hoc guidance concerning the process and/or content of the review. We thank O. Kolade for her programme management support via IMMANA. This study was funded through UK Aid from the UK Government and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation via the Innovative Methods and Metrics for Agriculture and Nutrition Actions (IMMANA) programme, based at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK

    Joe Yates, Megan Deeney, Heike B. Rolker, Sofia Kalamatianou & Suneetha Kadiyala

  2. The Campbell Collaboration, New Delhi, India

    Howard White

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  1. Joe Yates
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Contributions

The project was conceptualized by J.Y., M.D., S. Kalamatianou, and S. Kadiyala. Data were curated by M.D., H.B.R., J.Y. and S.Kadiyala. The formal analysis was by H.B.R., M.D. and J.Y. The investigation was carried out by J.Y., M.D., H.B.R., S. Kadiyala and H.W. The methodology was designed by J.Y., M.D., H.B.R. and S. Kadiyala. H.W. supervised the project. Visualization was by M.D., H.B.R. and J.Y. The original draft was written by J.Y., M.D. and H.B.R., and reviewed and edited by J.Y., M.D., H.B.R., S. Kadiyala and H.W.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Joe Yates.

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Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Peer review information Nature Food thanks Micah Peters, Veena Sahajwalla, Pieter van Beukering and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Methods 1–3.

Source data

Source Data Fig. 3

Volume of literature (total studies) found according to food system subsectors and outcome domain.

Source Data Fig. 4

Plastic use (exposure) and outcome categories under three impact domains (total studies at the nexus of each relationship).

Source Data Fig. 5

Number of publications by plastic type and impact domain.

Source Data Fig. 6

Frequency of study designs used to investigate the effects of plastic use in different food system subsectors.

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Yates, J., Deeney, M., Rolker, H.B. et al. A systematic scoping review of environmental, food security and health impacts of food system plastics. Nat Food 2, 80–87 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-021-00221-z

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