Phthalate Contamination in Food: Occurrence, Health Risks, Biomarkers for Detection, and Mitigation Strategies to Enhance Food Safety

As plasticizers, phthalates pose a global health risk due to food-chain migration. Although the association of phthalates with endocrine disruption and reproductive toxicity has been demonstrated, there is a lack of systematic integration of multiple sources of contamination pathways, molecular analysis of toxicity mechanisms, and analysis of intervention strategies in the existing reviews. In this study, we constructed the first "source-exposure pathway-disease-biomarker for detection" panoramic framework to comprehensively assess the occurrence of phthalate contamination in food and its related health effects. By integrating these findings, this review not only provides a risk assessment of phthalate contamination in food but also contributes to the development of effective mitigation strategies. These strategies, aimed at reducing dietary exposure to phthalates, have substantial implications for the enhancement of food safety, agricultural safety, and consumer product safety and the design of safer, food-environment-related processes in the agricultural industry.