World Economic Forum (WEF) webinar features presentations investigating environmental challenges created by COVID-19 pandemic; discusses effects on the shift away from single-use plastics and on ability to recycle, reviews strategies for moving forward
FDA updating FCM risk assessment
ILSI North America holds first public food packaging conference; several FDA speakers shared updates from ongoing work in pre- and post-market FCM risk assessment
FDA asked to ban PFCs from FCMs
NGOs petition FDA to remove perfluorinated compounds from food contact materials
RIVM: Annual report 2016 online
Dutch institute for public health and environment (RIVM) publishes annual report 2016
EU’s Chemicals Strategy plans actions on FCMs
European Commission (EC) publishes Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability; plans to ban PFAS for all non-essential uses, move towards grouping approach for regulation of all chemicals; specific actions for food contact materials (FCM) include extending generic approach to risk management, identifying endocrine disruptors, considering cumulative effects of chemical mixtures
Conference on residues of FCMs in food
Experts discussed future changes in the European legislation on FCMs, summarized state of the art in analytical chemistry and toxicity testing, and introduced novel techniques to measure and reduce chemical migration from FCMs into food
Webinar on analytics for food contact materials
American Chemical Society hosts webinar on analytical methods for food contact substances on April 28, 2016
Public consultation to inform broad EU PFAS restriction
Group of five EU national authorities launch online questionnaire to collect information on the uses and alternatives to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS); plan to develop wide-ranging joint restriction proposal on uses of PFAS; information accepted until end of July 2020
EU Member States will evaluate 22 chemicals in 2017
ECHA adopts updated Community Rolling Action Plan for 2017-2019; 22 substances to be evaluated in 2017, of which 7 are relevant for food contact materials
EFSA determines titanium dioxide not safe as food additive
European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) releases new assessment of titanium dioxide as a food additive, could not rule out genotoxicity; change in opinion from last assessment in 2016; announcement does not affect food contact materials