Amazon, Alibaba, eBay, Rakuten France sign EU Commission’s ‘product safety pledge’ to remove dangerous products from sale more quickly; NGOs call for more specific action on hazardous chemicals
Plastic recycling: company commitments and chemical safety challenges
Scientists report most large companies commit to reducing plastic pollution but focus on recycling; extrusion of recycled materials and legacy compounds in recycled materials as safety challenge; some substances increase others decrease with the increase in recycled content in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles; tentatively identify 212 volatile chemicals in 57 different recycled PET flakes available in China; present migration model to characterize the exposure and risk of PET oligomers
Predicting endocrine disruptors
National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark develops QSAR models to predict chemicals potentially affecting thyroid hormones
Obesity increased tenfold in children and teens
New WHO study finds worldwide rise in childhood and teen obesity between 1975 and 2016; NGO discusses metabolic disruptors as contributing factor to obesity epidemic
Researchers detect chemicals present in and migrating from PET bottles
Two studies analyze polyethylene terephthalate (PET) chemicals; identify several volatile chemicals present in and migrating from new PET bottles as well as from bottles commercially available in Japan; develop online method for quantifying non-intentionally added substances (NIAS)
Letter from EU Health Commissioner on FCM concerns
European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety responds to CHEM Trust regarding concerns with current EU food contact material legislation, recognizes stakeholder concerns, promises to move ahead with prioritization of harmful substances including endocrine disruptors
Chemical migration into coffee, canned vegetables, and Indian curd
Three research studies investigate the occurrence of chemicals in food packaging and migration into food; find average of 330 µg oligoesters migrating from cans per kg drained vegetables; report most extractable chemicals from low-density polyethylene Dahi curd packaging not included in India’s positive list; detect low levels of phthalic acid esters in coffee obtained from single-use capsules
FPF Workshop 2019: Proceedings online
7th annual Food Packaging Forum workshop focuses on accelerating science and innovation to improve the safety of food contact articles; video recordings, presentation slides, summary articles now available online
ECHA holds online safer chemicals conference
European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) online event features 14 presentations from government agencies and industry associations, retailers; covers topics under the themes of safer chemicals, tracking substances of concern, and harmonized information for poison control centers; slides and recordings available
FPF workshop program online
Program of FPF workshop on hazardous materials on 9 October 2014 online now; registration to open this week