News
The Food Packaging Forum reports on recent developments across the food packaging and health field.
October 15, 2026
Food Packaging Forum (FPF) submits comments on Codex Alimentarius discussion paper proposing international guidelines on the safe use of recycled plastic food contact materials (FCMs); welcomes efforts to address food safety but raises concerns that scientific rationale for plastic-specific guidance remains insufficient; current approaches cannot adequately demonstrate chemical safety of plastic FCMs; concept of food safety requires concrete definition
Reading time: 2 minutes
October 14, 2026
UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) technical brief examines plastic pollution across agrifood systems using a One Health approach; food packaging accounts for an estimated 37.3 million tonnes of plastic use annually; highlights human exposure to plastic chemicals and particles through food and other pathways; calls for prevention and coordinated action across the plastics lifecycle
Reading time: 2 minutes
October 12, 2026
Amendments made to California’s Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act; requires manufacturers to provide third-party certification when reporting on post-consumer recycled (PCR) content used in plastic beverage containers from March 1, 2028; increases financial penalty for non-compliance from $0.20 to $0.30 per pound of virgin plastic used in place of mandated amounts of PCR
Reading time: 2 minutes
October 8, 2026
Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) report presents novel analyses of PlastChem data; highlights health risks of chemicals in everyday plastic items including food-contact plastics; of chemicals assessed 92.8% identified as posing high risk with many linked to cancer, endocrine disruption, reproductive toxicity, and chronic disease; more than half are unregulated and many lack relevant toxicity and exposure data
Reading time: 3 minutes
October 7, 2026
Italian government adopts decree-law mandating compostability of certain single-use plastic packaging; decree-law in force since August 8, 2026; relies on provisions of the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) allowing Member States to permit certain packaging formats otherwise to be restricted under PPWR
Reading time: 2 minutes
September 30, 2026
Extended producer responsibility (EPR) guidelines obligate manufacturers, importers, and brand owners to finance and organize collection and recycling; rules cover rigid and flexible plastic packaging, expanded polystyrene, and single-use plastics; collection target starts at 15%, recycling at 7.5%, rising to 30% and 15%, respectively
Reading time: 3 minutes
September 28, 2026
German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) proposes tiered approach for evaluating non-intentionally added substances (NIAS) in food contact materials (FCMs) depending on migration levels; acknowledges some NIAS may remain unidentified
Reading time: 4 minutes
September 23, 2026
Food Packaging Forum (FPF) provides inputs to three public consultations on the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR); developing sustainability criteria for plastic recycling technologies, conditions for using recycled materials sourced from outside the EU, and harmonization of recycled content calculations; FPF highlights need for chemical safety, transparency, and traceability across recycling technologies, imported recycled materials, and recycled-content claims
Reading time: 4 minutes
September 22, 2026
Epidemiological study with 5318 US mother-child pairs assesses 113 chemicals from 10 classes in urinary samples during pregnancy; finds that gestational exposure to multiple phthalates, alternative plasticizers, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) is associated with shorter gestational age at birth and lower birth weight relative to gestational age
Reading time: 2 minutes
September 17, 2026
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) manual provides Member States with framework for developing plastic packaging and labeling standards; initiative seeks greater regional harmonization; also releases regional guidebook on phasing out single-use plastics; other harmonization tools under development in 2026
Reading time: 3 minutes
