PFAS in Butcher Paper, Why Coated Rolls Grade Worse Than Plain Kraft

One roll in this category reaches our top band, and it is plain kraft paper with a brand statement behind it. The IDL Packaging White Butcher Paper Roll grades 95 out of 100 as unbleached kraft with no coating described and an IDL Packaging PFAS-free statement in our record, which we have not verified. Thirteen other plain rolls grade 70, a Good grade rather than an Excellent one, because their makers say nothing about PFAS. Almost everything below that grades lower for one reason, a grease-resistant, non-stick, water-resistant or wax coating. Based on available materials and data, the Georgia-Pacific 36" Unbleached Butcher Paper Roll is representative of that plain kraft tier.

The result most likely to matter to you involves pink butcher paper, the roll that barbecue cooks reach for to wrap brisket. The Karat Pink Butcher Kraft Paper Roll grades 25 out of 100, because pink butcher paper is grease-resistant paper, and grease resistance in paper is exactly the property that fluorinated coatings are used to create. Across this category the most frequently recorded concern by a wide margin was PFAS in a grease-resistant coating. Below we break down the graded rolls so you can see where each lands and why.

Summary comparison table

Product	PFAS grade	Verdict
IDL Packaging White Butcher Paper Roll, 18" x 12000'	Excellent, 95/100	Unbleached kraft, IDL Packaging says PFAS-free, unverified
Georgia-Pacific 36" Unbleached Butcher Paper Roll	Good, 70/100	Unbleached kraft with no disclosed coating
Georgia-Pacific 48" x 1000' Butcher Paper Roll, White	Good, 70/100	Bleached kraft, described as uncoated
Choice 30" x 700' 40 lb White Butcher Paper Roll	Good, 70/100	Bleached kraft with no stated coating
Butcher Paper King Kraft Paper, 36" x 500 ft	Good, 70/100	Unbleached kraft cellulose
Pospaper 1,000' 40# Butcher Paper Roll	Good, 70/100	Bleached kraft, uncoated, verify no treatment was added
Polar King White Kraft Butcher Paper Roll	Good, 70/100	Plain unbleached kraft paper
Gordon Paper Butcher Paper	Good, 70/100	Kraft from bleached sulfate pulp, uncoated
Durable Packaging White Butcher Paper Roll	Good, 70/100	Bleached kraft described as likely uncoated
Stamar Roll of Butcher Paper	Good, 70/100	Bleached kraft with no documented coating
USA Warehouse Recycled Paper Roll, 24 in	Good, 70/100	Uncoated recycled paper
Karat Pink Butcher Kraft Paper Roll	Poor, 25/100	Kraft paper with a grease-resistant coating
PK Grills Butcher Paper	Poor, 25/100	Kraft paper with a grease-resistant coating
Boardwalk Butcher Paper BWKB	Poor, 25/100	Grease-resistant coating, composition not given
Drip EZ Wrap EZ Heavyweight Butcher Paper	Poor, 25/100	Kraft paper with a water-resistant coating
Member's Mark Foil Sheets, 500 ct	Poor, 25/100	Aluminum foil carrying a grease-resistant coating
365 by Whole Foods Market Unbleached Parchment Paper	Poor, 25/100	Unbleached paper with a silicone coating
Member's Mark Unbleached Parchment Paper, 205 sq ft	Poor, 25/100	Unbleached paper with a silicone coating
Great Value Non-Stick Parchment Paper Roll	Bad, 20/100	Our lowest grade here, unspecified non-stick and grease-resistant treatment

How we graded these rolls

Every grade in this article is a model-based estimate built from publicly available materials disclosures, manufacturing descriptions and brand documentation, not a lab test performed by our team. A high score means lower concern based on reviewed sources, never PFAS-free and never safe. No product in this category carried published independent lab data or a third-party certification. One brand, IDL Packaging, has a PFAS-free statement in our record that applies to three products here, and that statement is why its uncoated roll is the only one in our Excellent band. Across the graded rolls the recorded concerns were dominated by PFAS in a grease-resistant coating, followed by fluorinated compounds in that coating, migration of coating polymers into food, and thermal decomposition where a coating is fluorochemical. You can compare any specific roll using our PFAS product finder.

The Excellent tier, 95 out of 100

IDL Packaging White Butcher Paper Roll is described as unbleached natural kraft with no coating. It earns a credit for the plain paper and a credit for IDL Packaging's PFAS-free statement, and it avoids the penalty that silent brands carry. Pros include the same simple materials story as the plain rolls at 70, plus a maker that says something about PFAS. Cons include that the statement is the brand's own and unverified, no test data is in our record, and at 18 inches by 12,000 feet it is a foodservice roll rather than a household one.

The Good tier, 70 out of 100

Thirteen products share the 70 grade, twelve plain kraft or recycled paper rolls with no treatment described and one roll of aluminum foil, and none of their makers says anything about PFAS. Bleaching does not separate them, since both bleached and unbleached rolls sit at 70.

Georgia-Pacific 36" Unbleached Butcher Paper Roll is described as unbleached kraft with no disclosed coating. Pros include the simplest possible materials story for food contact paper. Cons include that Georgia-Pacific publishes no PFAS statement, so the grade rests on the absence of a described treatment rather than on a commitment from the maker.

Butcher Paper King Kraft Paper and the Polar King White Kraft Butcher Paper Roll are both unbleached kraft cellulose. Pros include long roll formats suited to wrapping whole cuts. Cons are the same disclosure gap that applies to every plain roll at 70.

Pospaper 1,000' 40# Butcher Paper Roll carries a note worth repeating, which is to verify no grease-resistant treatment was added, because uncoated and treated rolls are sold under nearly identical descriptions. Pros include bulk format. Cons include that the uncoated status is inferred from the description rather than confirmed by the manufacturer.

The middle, 50 out of 100

Four products sit at 50 for two different reasons. The IDL Packaging PFAS-Free Grease-Proof Paper Sheets and the IDL Packaging Mini Freezer Paper Roll both carry a grease-resistant or polyethylene coating that our model counts as a treatment, offset by IDL Packaging's PFAS-free statement, unverified. The Georgia-Pacific Waxed Butcher Paper and Dixie Heavyweight Dry Wax Deli Paper use a named wax coating, which our model scores as a disclosed non-fluorinated coating rather than an unknown treatment, but neither maker says anything about PFAS.

The Poor and Bad tiers, 20 to 25 out of 100

Ninety-four products sit at the bottom, 93 at 25 and one at 20. Nearly all are paper, foil or film given a barrier property on purpose, and none carries a PFAS statement from its maker.

Great Value Non-Stick Parchment Paper Roll takes the lowest grade at 20 out of 100, carrying both an unspecified non-stick treatment and grease resistance. There are no pros to highlight from a PFAS grading standpoint. The con is that two separate barrier properties are claimed and neither chemistry is named.

The barbecue rolls are the group most people will care about. Karat Pink Butcher Kraft Paper Roll, PK Grills Butcher Paper and Boardwalk Butcher Paper BWKB all grade 25 on grease-resistant coatings whose composition is not given, and the Drip EZ Wrap EZ Heavyweight Butcher Paper grades the same on a water-resistant coating. This matters because the grease resistance is the selling point. A roll that lets fat through is not doing the job cooks buy it for, so the property they want is the property our model flags.

Two parchment products appear here too, the 365 by Whole Foods Market Unbleached Parchment Paper and Member's Mark Unbleached Parchment Paper, both at 25 on silicone coatings. Our model counts the release coating as a treatment, and neither Whole Foods nor Member's Mark says anything about PFAS. A silicone release layer is a different material from a fluorinated grease barrier, and parchment with a brand statement and a published non-detect test grades higher in our parchment data, so read these two as reflecting the absence of any disclosure rather than a finding about silicone itself. Our separate parchment paper and baking liners guide covers that category properly.

What to avoid

• Any roll sold on grease resistance, grease-proofing or non-stick performance where the maker does not name the chemistry. That describes nearly every product in the bottom tier here.
• Pink butcher paper specifically, if PFAS is your concern. The pink rolls we graded are grease-resistant coated products and sit at 25 out of 100.
• Assuming unbleached means untreated. Both bleached and unbleached rolls appear at 70, and coated rolls appear in both colors too.
• Treating a high grade here as a clean bill. The one roll in our Excellent band gets there on a brand statement we have not verified, and no roll in this category has published test data or third-party certification.

If you are looking at food wrapping more broadly, our deli and sandwich paper and food packaging categories cover related products with their own grading, and the PFAS hazard page explains how grease-resistant coatings became common in paper.

Our pick

Based on available materials and data, plain uncoated kraft is the lower-concern choice. The IDL Packaging White Butcher Paper Roll grades highest at 95 out of 100, on uncoated kraft plus a PFAS-free brand statement we have not verified, though it is a very long foodservice roll. For a smaller, widely available roll, the Georgia-Pacific 36" Unbleached Butcher Paper Roll grades 70 as unbleached kraft with no coating. The Butcher Paper King Kraft Paper, a 500-foot roll, carries the same 70. If you wrap brisket and have been reaching for pink butcher paper, the honest trade-off is that plain kraft grades better in our model but will not resist grease the same way, and we would rather state that plainly than pretend there is a grease-resistant roll that grades as well as plain kraft. These are estimates built from disclosed materials, not laboratory proof, and no product here is being called PFAS-free or safe by us.

FAQ

Is pink butcher paper a PFAS risk?

The pink butcher paper rolls we graded are described as carrying grease-resistant coatings and grade 25 out of 100 for that reason. That is an assessment of an undisclosed coating, not a laboratory finding that any specific roll contains PFAS. Grease resistance in paper has historically been achieved with fluorinated treatments, which is why an unnamed grease-resistant coating is treated as unresolved in our model.

Why do most plain rolls stop at 70?

Because their makers publish no PFAS statement, certification or test data. Plain paper with no treatment described earns a material credit, but saying nothing about PFAS costs 15 points. The one plain roll above 70, from IDL Packaging, has a brand PFAS-free statement in our record instead, which is why it reaches 95. Nothing in this category has the third-party verification or published test data that would carry more weight.

Is bleached or unbleached butcher paper better?

Neither, on this measure. Bleached and unbleached rolls both appear at 70 out of 100 in our data, and coated rolls appear in both varieties. Bleaching is a separate question from whether a grease-resistant barrier was applied.

Should I be worried about health effects from a lower-graded roll?

Any discussion of PFAS and health in our guides describes association, not proven causation, and grades measure estimated chemical concern based on materials and disclosure, not a medical risk assessment for any individual. If you want to reduce potential exposure in a kitchen, cross-reference products using our PFAS product finder alongside categories like food packaging.