“The feeling of eating to die”: the fear of poisoning yourself in the face of food scandals (1/3)

A few months ago, Laura* was quietly scrolling through her social media when a previously unknown word began to appear: “cadmium”. “I had never heard of that,” remembers this 41-year-old Parisian, communications director. “When I understood what it was, a heavy metal harmful to our health and present in many foods we consume every day, I felt an immediate wave of anxiety.”

Also readUnderstanding everything about cadmium, this toxic metal which contaminates French food

“From one day to the next”, she testifies, all the packets of pasta, biscuits or rice which were in the cupboards of her kitchen, and to which she had barely paid attention until then, were perceived as “sources of potential danger”, for her, her husband and their three children.

“I had heard about pesticides, endocrine disruptors, etc., but I didn’t really pay attention to them… Cadmium was a real trigger,” she explains. “I began to take a serious interest in food contamination and realized the extent of the risk and the importance of choosing foods wisely for our health.”

It must be said that in recent years, food scandals have continued: mercury in tuna, cadmium in pasta, potatoes and chocolate, hexane in certain oils, eternal pollutants (PFAS) in seafood, pesticides in fruits and vegetables… So much data that Laura is now trying to pay attention to.

Christine, a single mother, had started paying more attention to the contents of her plate when her first daughter was born, six years ago. “I wanted to be sure to give him the best, both while I was breastfeeding but also afterwards,” says this childminder in Savoie. “I tried to avoid ultra-processed products and I favored organic for certain products, to avoid pesticides,” she explains.

So, for her too, the revelations about cadmium had the effect of a bomb. “All this time, I never paid attention to pasta, rice or bread. I didn’t know!”, she laments, angrily.

Cadmium, Pfas… These substances poison our food. From the anxieties that this generates to the best practices to adopt to the challenges for municipalities, France 24 is devoting a series of articles to decipher the issues of these food scandals.

The supermarket puzzle

Today, the two women have given themselves the same mission: to be extra vigilant to feed themselves and their family without (too much) poisoning themselves. Even if it means disrupting all their habits, and even if, on a daily basis, this is a headache on several levels.

First mission: ban the most risky foods while keeping in mind the latest cases, even if it means seeing the shopping list shorten as the list of food scandals lengthens. At Christine’s, no more salmon because of its mercury contamination, chocolate from Africa or even pasta of French origin because of cadmium… Instead, we favor lentils and other legumes, fruits and vegetables purchased from the neighboring market gardener, and meat, if possible, local.

Second mission: always favor the best option for health. While shopping, the two women engage in the same well-established ritual. Smartphone in hand, they survey the shelves and compulsively scan all the labels with the Yuka application – which details the composition of the food. Products from different brands are scrupulously compared, the “least worst” almost always favored, and everything that is classified red or orange, and therefore “harmful”, is immediately put in its place.

“And when possible, I make it at home,” says Laura. “Because it’s the best way to be sure of what we eat.”

Third mission: weigh all this with another important criterion, the price. Although Laura admits to being rather comfortable financially, “with five mouths to feed, every cent counts”, she confides, estimating that her budget for food has increased by around 350 euros per month since she decided to change her habits.

“In the end, I find myself buying certain foods in organic stores, others in the supermarket, certain fruits or vegetables at the greengrocer… I do everything based on the best quality-price ratio. It takes a lot of time,” she continues, recognizing that, despite her efforts, this increase in the budget has an impact on daily life. “We sacrificed the holidays. We will be away for less time this summer. And we canceled our annual weekend during the May bridges.”

And for households with lower incomes and tighter budgets, eating better sometimes leads to sacrifices. “I live alone with my two daughters. And eating well is expensive. So, unfortunately, sometimes I have to accept ‘less good food’, because I can’t buy the best,” laments Christine. “But I try as much as possible to favor quality over quantity, even if it means depriving myself of eating enough.”

“Agribusiness is taking us away from what we eat”

Like Laura and Christine, eating without poisoning yourself has become a priority mission for many consumers. According to the study “La France à table” published in June 2025 by the Jean-Jaurès Foundation, 40% of French people believe that the quality of food products has deteriorated in five years, while 22% of them believe that it has even deteriorated significantly.

The result of a growing distrust of food, but which is far from new, believes Sophie Thiron, sociologist of food and lecturer at the Jean-Jaurès University of Toulouse. “It is based on a whole heritage linked to the scandals that have marked History. Already, in 1905, the press denounced the sale of adulterated milk instead of pure milk. In more recent history, there was mad cow disease in 1996 or even horse meat fraud in 2013…”, she lists.

“The revelations on cadmium, like pesticides before, just add to an already fertile ground of concern around the contents of our plates,” summarizes the specialist. “And, in this case, this was further amplified by the significant media coverage and alerts from the scientific community.”

But initially, she believes, all this distrust stems from the same problem: “Agro-industry takes us away from what we eat. We have less and less information about the origins or composition of food. This gives the impression of losing control.”

Today, she recognizes, several factors accentuate the phenomenon. “Beyond the health aspect, more and more people are also thinking about their diet in terms of its impact on the environment or on animal welfare,” she continues.

Also readA blue or well-cooked planet? Meat facing the challenge of climate change

Added to this, according to her, is an increasing difficulty “in finding one’s way”. “People are bombarded with talk, particularly from influencers, about what to eat or not to eat, with sometimes completely contradictory information. It becomes very difficult to sort things out and everyone is lost.”

Anxiety and mental load

Is this product good for your health? For the environment? For animal welfare? Does it cost too much? Is it better than another? So many questions that have become daily for Laura and Christine, and which, they confide, plunge them into a constant state of anxiety.

“But all this anxiety is mainly linked to my daughters,” explains Christine. “Sometimes it keeps me up at night. I feel like I’m constantly thinking about it. I’m afraid of poisoning them without knowing it,” she says. “Especially since we know that no matter how much we make every effort, it is impossible to protect ourselves completely. The sources of contamination are too numerous. An expression says ‘live to eat’, I have the impression that, whatever we do, we ‘eat to die'”.

“And beyond the logistics, constantly thinking about the best option when you want to eat something adds so much mental load. It’s exhausting,” says Laura.

If all segments of the population are today subject to food anxiety, women, and even more so young mothers, like Christine and Laura, appear to be the first victims of the phenomenon, explains Sophie Thiron. “It is unfortunately societal and linked to the fact that it is still largely up to them to be responsible for the good health of their child – and of their husband,” she analyzes. A perfect illustration of this phenomenon, only women, mothers, responded to the call for testimonies launched by our editorial staff.

“Moreover, contrary to what is often believed, this anxiety concerns both the middle classes and the working classes,” specifies Sophie Thiron. “Anxiety is simply not expressed in the same way. The former respond by trying every means possible to adjust their behavior. The latter tend to put the problem at bay, aware that they have fewer levers for action.”

Citizen fight

Month after month, the anxiety and frustration felt in front of their plate gave rise to the same desire: to mobilize actively, and politically. “What we can do individually is quickly reaching its limits. We need to mobilize so that politicians finally take up the subject and make it a priority,” insists Christine.

For her part, Laura, who does not hide the fact that “not so long ago” she was not “green for two cents”, admits to having made a “complete about-face”. “I understood that this was the crux of the matter and today I work regularly with environmental groups to warn of the risks linked to pesticides and cadmium in particular,” she explains, determined.

Their wish will have been partially granted on Wednesday June 3. After months of citizen mobilization, a bill proposed by deputies Benoît Biteau (Les Écologues) and Clémentine Autain (L’après) aimed at limiting the exposure of the French population to cadmium was adopted by a vast majority in the National Assembly. But this was done against the advice of the government. And the text must still pass the Senate.

Today, the two women therefore clearly have the presidential election in their sights. And for them, it is clear, the only valid candidate will be the one who knows how to tackle the subject best. What if it still doesn’t move? Laura does not rule out moving abroad, “In the Northern countries? Elsewhere? In any case somewhere where the political will is clearer and more proactive to fight against these poisons. The health of my children is at stake.”

* These first names have been changed