Cardboard Pizza Boxes vs 8" Kraft Paper Open Pizza Box: which is safer?

8" Kraft Paper Open Pizza Box is the clear pick. Cardboard Pizza Boxes carries a failing PFAS grade, and we never recommend buying a failing product.

Cardboard Pizza Boxes

Cardboard Pizza Boxes

PFAS grade

Poor 25/100

Overall grade

Bad 0/100

Verdict

Skip

Hazard flags

⚑ 4

Material

Cardboard with grease-resistant coating (composition unspecified)

Confidence

45%

LikelyPFAS in grease-resistant coating

PossibleUndisclosed coating chemicals (other than PFAS)

PossibleMicroplastic generation from coating degradation

Our pick

8" Kraft Paper Open Pizza Box

8" Kraft Paper Open Pizza Box

PFAS grade

Good 70/100

Overall grade

Poor 40/100

Verdict

Buy with care

Hazard flags

⚑ 4

Material

Kraft paper (uncoated)

Confidence

78%

PossibleChlorine residues from kraft pulp bleaching

PossibleHeavy metals in inks and adhesives

LikelyGrease saturation and structural failure

Where these two actually differ

  • We flag PFAS in grease-resistant coating, Undisclosed coating chemicals (other than PFAS), Microplastic generation from coating degradation and Printing inks and dyes on exterior on the and not on the .
  • We flag Chlorine residues from kraft pulp bleaching, Heavy metals in inks and adhesives, Grease saturation and structural failure and Microcontaminants from recycled fiber content on the and not on the .
  • The is Cardboard with grease-resistant coating (composition unspecified) where the is Kraft paper (uncoated), which is most of the difference in these two grades.
  • The gap is 45 points, wide enough that this is not a close call, and the is the one to buy.
  • We are less certain about the grade, at 45% confidence against 78%, because it discloses less.

Both products run through the same public rubric: materials, coatings, brand disclosure, lab findings, and recalls, plus a beyond-PFAS hazard analysis. Grades are model-based estimates, not lab tests. How grades work →

More pizza boxes: see the full ranking