A popular Thanksgiving side dish that’s served in millions of homes every year is banned across Europe — and not because Europeans are just so jealous of our tasty holiday spread.
Stove Top Stuffing, the instant boxed mix that’s cemented itself as a must-have accompaniment for turkey, contains two ingredients that are off limits in many developed countries.
A doctor told The Post that the ingredients are known human carcinogens and may cause other health problems as well — and they’re actually in a lot more foods than people realize.
Invented by Ruth M. Siems and introduced by General Foods in 1972, the Stove Top Stuffing recipe was so unique that it was patented — and it quickly became a fan favorite. A Kraft Foods spokesperson told the New York Times in 2005 that it sells 60 million boxes of it every year at Thanksgiving.
The turkey version is a mix of bread, high fructose corn syrup, salt, onion, turkey, celery and parsley — and BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole) and BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene), two man-made chemicals used as flavor enhancers and food preservatives to extend shelf life.
And though BHA and BHT are totally legal in the US — and in fact show up in countless processed foods like snacks, cereal, processed meats, gum and butter — they’re banned in the UK, the EU, and Japan.
BHA, in particular, is recognized as a carcinogen, even in the United States — meaning it’s known to increase cancer risk.
“A lot of countries have much stricter rules around what’s allow in food,” Dr. Neha Pathak, MD, who serves on WebMD‘s Medical Team, told The Post. She compared the US’s approach to food ingredients as “innocent until proven guilty.”
However, she added, there’s growing evidence that BHA and BHT are harmful, with an increased cancer risk being at the top of the list of concerns.
“These types of preservatives are banned in the European Union, and mostly it’s because of the cancer risk,” she said. “The cancer risk is something that is concerning and certainly reasonably anticipated based on the studies we have.
“There are lots of animal studies that show that high doses can cause tumor development in rats and hamsters. It is classified as reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen.”
That’s not the only cause for concern. Dr. Pathak said that the chemicals may also be endocrine disrupters, meaning they might interfere with our hormonal functioning, impacting reproductive or developmental health.
“We’re still studying what it means in regard to endocrine disruption specifically,” she said. “We know it can interfere with how our hormones talk to different parts of our body. Is it fertility, is it early menstruation? We’re still trying to figure out exactly what these downstream effects are going to be.’
There’s also some risk of allergic reactions that can cause skin rashes or hypersensitivity responses, she added.
So does that mean you should give up your beloved boxed stuffing ASAP? The answer is complicated. Dr. Pathak stressed that 70% of American diets are made up of ultra-processed foods, so the stuffing you eat one day a year is just a tiny fraction of the problem.
“We are eating a lot of these types of foods, and BHA, BHT are not just in Stove Top Stuffing,” she said.
“We have to be very thoughtful about what we are buying and putting into our bodies year-round. This is just one example to highlight the types of chemicals that unfortunately are in a lot of our ultra-processed foods.”
In fact, Dr. Pathak admitted that she eats ultra-processed foods in her own home, but said everyone needs to be paying more attention to the ingredients on the back of the package — and called for higher-level action to get harmful ingredients out of the food supply.
A spokesperson for the Stove Top brand told The Post, “For over 50 years, Stove Top Stuffing has been a trusted favorite on family meal tables. Every box is crafted with care, following the same high-quality standards that we use across every one of our brands, while also exceeding the strict safety guidelines set by government agencies. We will proudly serve Stove Top to our families this Thanksgiving.”
Dr. Pathak said not to make yourself crazy feeling like you need to eliminate it from your table this year.
“We can’t necessarily judge ourselves and be stressed out about everything we’re putting onto our plate. It does take more time than some of us have,” she said.
“But it’s important to recognize that 70% of what we’re putting into our bodies is ultra-processed [and ask ourselves,] are there a few things that we can start eliminating and taking out so that we are eating a safer, healthier diets?”
