EU Commission’s DG SANTE publishes Inception Impact Assessment as roadmap for revision of EU regulations on food contact materials; outlines eight main “issues” identified during ongoing evaluation, possible policy options to be considered by planned Impact Assessment; commenting period open until January 29, 2021
Report critically reviews brands’ plastics commitments
New report by the Changing Markets Foundation investigates commitments on plastic packaging made by largest food and consumer goods companies; criticizes consistently failed promises, sees voluntary initiatives as tactics to distract from and avoid responsibility
BfR: 17th Meeting on contaminants in food chain
German Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) publishes meeting minutes of its commission for contaminants in the food chain; discusses PFASs and mineral oil hydrocarbons
Reverse causation bias in PFOA studies
Scientists suggest increased perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) blood levels are consequence of early menopause and kidney disease, not cause
Risk evaluation of RASFF notifications
EFSA proposes methodology for evaluating risks posed by food contaminants detected in RASFF, addresses toxicological properties and dietary exposure, develops Rapid Assessment of Contaminant Exposure (RACE) tool
US FDA updates to food contact inventory since August 2022
US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) adds 26 new entries to its Inventory of Effective Food Contact Substance Notifications (FCNs) since August 2022
Oligomers in biodegradable food packaging
Study of non-volatile components of biodegradable polyester and polylactic acid blend identifies 37 different compounds including plasticizers and oligomers, some seen only in migration experiments
Glosario
Listado alfabético de términos empleados en los temas de salud relacionados con los envases alimentarios.
U.S. consumers confused about compostable and biodegradable food packaging labels
Half of surveyed people have difficulty with the difference between compostable and biodegradable; 50% of participants fail to dispose of packaging correctly; report suggests better standardization and consumer education needed
Study detects DNA-reactive, mutagenic substances in recycled PE, PP, and PS
119 plastic samples including polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) tested for mutagenicity; no DNA-reactive, mutagenic substances in PET but in 51 of the other samples, making them unsafe, especially for food contact applications; recycling process identified as source; dataset of over 600 organic chemicals in recycled high-density PE pellets published