US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) adds 18 new entries to Inventory of Effective Food Contact Substance (FCS) Notifications since January 2020
China requests comments on new FCMs, chemicals
National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment calls for public comment on new food contact materials (FCMs) and chemicals as well as expanded uses; feedback accepted until March 11, 2020
China solicits comments on FCMs, new resins
Agency announces expanded uses for three food contact materials and articles, three new resins, and one new food contact substance; public comments accepted until December 25, 2019
Implementation of EU circular economy plan
EU Commission evaluates implementation of its circular economy plan; all 54 actions outlined in 2015 ‘have now been delivered or are being implemented’
Towards safe and sustainable food contact materials in European healthcare
Styrene concentrations in German and Italian refrigerated dairy products
Scientists assess styrene levels in polystyrene food packaging, migration into refrigerated dairy products, in 50% ethanol, as well as factors influencing migration; report styrene migration of 5 to 30 µg/kg food at the best before date; find food contact area, temperature and time rather than fat content influence styrene migration
EEB analysis critical of ECHA microplastics restriction
European Environmental Bureau (EEB) disapproves of updates the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) made to its restriction proposal for microplastics in consumer and professional products; criticizes increase in microplastic size limit to 100 nm; ECHA defends changes, argues that regulation must be enforceable, cites lacking analytical techniques
Food contact chemicals among 921 substances tied to breast cancer risk
Researchers expand list of known substances with characteristics linked to breast cancer by more than four-fold; many are in standard consumer products, including 189 in food contact according to FPF’s database on migrating and extractable food contact chemicals (FCCmigex); authors call for improved hazard identification methods, advocate for more comprehensive chemical testing, especially focusing on the mammary gland and broader range of chemicals
Projects launched to support GHS implementation in Africa
Kenya, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria, and Rwanda implementing Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS) in national policy; Sierra Leone and Malawi partner with the UN Environment Program (UNEP) to study chemical and waste management within the countries to design long term policies and projects
Hazard prioritization of printing inks and adhesives substances
Scientific study performs hazard prioritization on chemicals in printing inks and adhesives applied to plastic food packaging; uses publicly available “substances of concern” lists and an in silico tool; identifies 636 high and 1024 medium priority substances of which 696 ranked as “very high priority substances” by experts