News
The Food Packaging Forum reports on recent developments across the food packaging and health field.
March 31, 2021
Life Cycle Initiative led by UN Environment publishes synthesis report investigating impacts of single-use plastic products through life cycle assessment (LCA) approach; finds concept of ‘single-use’ more problematic than ‘plastic’; encourages countries to promote and incentivize replacing single-use products with reusable products; keep products at highest value in economy for as long as possible
Reading time: 2 minutes
March 30, 2021
Article in PLOS Biology discusses hazardous chemicals in plastics; highlights chemicals as critical but often missing aspect in plastic pollution discussion; proposes rethinking current approach to plastic packaging toxicity testing
Reading time: 2 minutes
March 29, 2021
Journalist from The Guardian tests household items and his own blood for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination in partnership with the University of Notre Dame and the Silent Spring Institute; analysis confirms presence of four types of PFAS in blood serum, 15 household products, food packaging and cookware; identified substances include perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorohexane-1-sulphonic acid (PFHxS)
Topics: food packaging, PFAS
Reading time: 1 minute
March 26, 2021
Scientists from Ural Feral University publish study in Journal of Food Engineering ; develop three types of edible films for food packaging based on seaweed, alginate; describe films as water-soluble and dissolve by almost 90 percent, no special equipment needed to produce at industrial scale
Reading time: 0 minutes
March 26, 2021
Food packaging experts call for banning a new group of biodegradability promoting additives used in food packaging, cite concerns over uncontrollable degradation, migration of and human exposure to potentially hazardous chemicals; finds them distracting from real solutions such as new business models incorporating reuse
Reading time: 2 minutes
March 26, 2021
European Commission holds workshop with stakeholders to discuss criteria for chemicals that are Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD); implementation of EU’s Chemical Strategy for Sustainability (CSS) will depend on clear and implementable criteria for SSbD, amongst other central pillars such as essential use and generic risk assessment
Reading time: 3 minutes
March 26, 2021
Updated version of bill continues to plan for nationwide extended producer responsibility scheme, minimum recycled content limits, deposit system, single-use plastic bans; new focus on promoting refillable containers, establishing three-year stop on construction of new plastic and chemical recycling facilities
Reading time: 2 minutes
March 25, 2021
US state governor passes legislation banning polystyrene foam food packaging partially by 2023 and fully by 2025; sets penalty of $50 a day, civil organizations to be exempted; signed executive order regulating phase-out of non-reusable plastics from public institutions by July 21, 2021
Reading time: 1 minute
March 25, 2021
Government agency Health Canada publishes updated industry guide providing relevant information, examples, migration limits, designs for warnings labels; emphasizes that undecorated glassware and ceramics out of scope of regulation
Reading time: 1 minute
March 25, 2021
Chem Forward and Sustainable Packaging Coalition launch collaborative to identify, assess, and verify safer alternatives for use in food packaging; plan to develop cloud-based registration system, highlight best practices, develop common agenda to accelerate systemic change
Topics: risk assessment, substitution
Reading time: 1 minute
