On March 12, 2025, the Food Packaging Forum’s Database on Migrating and Extractable Food Contact Chemicals (FCCmigex) received an update identifying 1,060 new chemicals present in or migrating from food packaging and other food contact articles. The database was last updated on April 12, 2023 (FPF reported).
FCCmigex was initially published in May 2022 and systematically maps the scientific evidence of food contact chemicals (FCCs) that have been measured in migrates and extracts of food contact materials and articles. All FCCs in the database have either been detected in food contact materials (indicated by extraction experiments) or found to transfer into food under real-world conditions, thus making human exposure to these chemicals highly probable (indicated by migration experiments).
With this new update, the database covers scientific studies published until May 2024. The database now includes in total:
- 5,294 chemicals (20% increase compared to the previous version)
- 1,500 scientific studies (13% increase)
- >35,500 database entries (30% increase)
During this update, geographical information on where the tested food contact articles were bought was retrieved from the literature and added to the reference view of the interactive dashboard. Buttons to filter for recycled and primary content of plastic food contact materials (FCMs) were added, as well as regenerated cellulose as a new type of FCM.
29 of the 188 new studies included report the detection of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and add 62 new PFAS to the 68 PFAS that have been found before in FCMs (FPF reported). Other groups of FCCs for which significant new evidence for presence in FCMs was reported include antioxidants, metals, oligomers, organophosphate esters, and volatile organic compounds.
A shift from studies targeting only a few chemicals to using more non-targeted analyses is one reason for the strong increase in the number of detected FCCs. In the future, applying non-targeted screening approaches may help to better map the chemical mixtures that can migrate from food contact materials.
The FCCmigex database is part of FPF’s ongoing Food Contact Chemicals and Human Health (FCCH) Project. As part of this project, four research questions have been addressed and three databases have been published so far, with one database still in progress:
- Food Contact Chemicals Database (FCCdb; 2020)
- Database on Migrating and Extractable Food Contact Chemicals (FCCmigex; 2022)
- Database on Food Contact Chemicals Monitored in Humans (FCChumon; 2024)
- Food Contact Chemicals Health Impact Matrix (FCChelix; in progress)
Reference
Food Packaging Forum (2025). “Database on Migrating and Extractable Food Contact Chemicals (FCCmigex).” Interactive tool
Read more
Geueke, B. et al. (2022). “Systematic evidence on migrating and extractable food contact chemicals: Most chemicals detected in food contact materials are not listed for use.” Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, DOI: 10.1080/10408398.2022.2067828
