News Article

Bamboo in plastic FCMs not authorized in the EU

European Commission’s Working Group concludes that bamboo-based additives are not authorized per se for use in plastic food contact materials in the EU; business operators to explicitly demonstrate safety by migration testing; migration of melamine, formaldehyde of high concern; additional concerns about misleading labeling and advertising

News Article

Global Food Contact Conference: NIAS evaluation in recycled packaging

2021 Smithers Pira conference covers global developments in food contact regulations and materials including a session on the risk assessment of non-intentionally added substances (NIAS); Marco Zhong outlines efforts China is taking to assess NIAS in recycled and biodegradable materials for safe food contact application; Marinella Vitulli focuses on applied testing schemes for NIAS identification, stresses that the right analytical approach is key

News Article

Assessing the circularity of single-use glass

Zero Waste Europe and Eunomia investigate the circularity of single-use container glass in Germany, France, the UK and US; Germany has the highest collection rates for glass and the highest proportion of recycled glass in containers; US is the lowest due to lack of collection facilities and mixed collection of glass with other packaging types; collecting glass separately and by color is the most effective way to increase circularity

News Article

The chemical and waste footprint of food delivery in China

Study uses online food delivery sales data from nearly 200 Chinese cities, combined with packaging samples from 18 of those cities to model packaging waste generation and chemical exposure from waste incineration; some degradation products with higher concentrations than intentionally added parent product; over 50 tons of the targeted additives likely released into the atmosphere from Chinese waste incinerators

News Article

Phthalate exposure and health impacts

Four scientific articles report on phthalate exposure sources and impacts; diet partly explains urinary phthalate levels in adolescents and children surveyed in the US and New Zealand; review of reviews summarizes human health impacts; finds studies on women “generally underrepresented”; study indicates three phthalates affect human oral health

Events

Food Contact Materials: A road map to improved safety testing

Jane Muncke form the Food Packaging Forum talks about the new study, “A vision for safer food contact materials: Public health concerns as drivers for improved testing.” The study proposes a concept for improved testing of food contact materials and the chemicals used to make those materials.

News Article

OECD report on PFAS alternatives for food packaging

Report by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) investigates market availability and use of alternatives to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in paper and board coatings; finds non-fluorinated alternatives available and effective, market uptake primarily limited by increase in price

News Article

Studies highlight presence of antioxidants in Chinese food contact materials

Recent studies explore the presence and migration of diverse synthetic antioxidants in Chinese food contact materials (FCMs); both phosphite antioxidants and synthetic phenolic antioxidants are commonly found; typically, FCMs contain several mg of synthetic antioxidants per kg FCM and may be the primary source of exposure to synthetic antioxidants; some commonly found antioxidants are suspected endocrine disruptors