News
The Food Packaging Forum reports on recent developments across the food packaging and health field.
December 16, 2020
Council of Europe (CoE) releases resolution on safety and quality of food contact materials (FCMs); calls for harmonization of quality requirements and test procedures for chemicals in FCMs based on technical guides; recommends to implement measures reducing health risks from exposures
Topics: FCM
Reading time: 1 minute
December 16, 2020
Guide developed by Endocrine Society and International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN) informs public interest organizations and policy-makers about presence of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in plastics; explains impacts of EDCs on human health, considers economic dimension
Reading time: 2 minutes
December 15, 2020
Scientists explore the utility of-throughput screening data for hazard assessment and toxicological read-across of food-relevant chemicals; observe some biological targets to lack validated toxicity associations; demonstrate application in identifying out-of-domain compounds
Reading time: 3 minutes
December 14, 2020
The European Human Biomonitoring Initiative (HBM4EU) publishes survey on biomonitoring and chemical exposure; available in 20 languages; open until December 31, 2020
Topics: biomonitoring
Reading time: 0 minutes
December 14, 2020
Rethink Plastic Alliance reviewing four commonly cited life cycle assessments (LCAs) on chemical recycling; report identifies undisclosed data, flawed assumptions, questionable accounting methods; suggests LCAs should not be used for public communication or as the basis for political decision making or investment decisions, should be improved to be “more independent,” “transparent,” “comprehensive”
Topics: chemical recycling, LCA
Reading time: 3 minutes
December 11, 2020
Amazon announces ban on 17 chemicals in food packaging; includes per-and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), phthalates, bisphenol A (BPA), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polystyrene (PS), expanded polystyrene (EPS); restricted substance list (RSL) applies to Amazon Go, Amazon Go Grocery, Amazon Fresh, and Fresh grocery delivery
Reading time: 2 minutes
December 10, 2020
Collaboration on Health and the Environment (CHE) and University of California launch seven-part webinar series on cumulative impacts of toxic chemicals; aims to educate researchers, health professionals, policy makers, advocates and patients; addresses topics such as infertility, prenatal exposure
Reading time: 1 minute
December 9, 2020
Investigates technologies within three categories for plastic recycling; identifies concerns regarding substantial energy use, waste plastic input quality, presence of hazardous chemicals; recommends lack of data transparency be urgently addressed before further investments are made
Topics: chemical recycling
Reading time: 2 minutes
December 9, 2020
Zero Waste Europe (ZWE) publishes study comparing 32 life cycle assessments (LCAs) to evaluate single-use and reusable packaging; finds reusable glass bottles have 85% fewer carbon emissions than single-use with highest impacts from transport; breakeven point reached after two to three reuse cycles; suggests five key measures to increase sustainability of reusable packaging
Reading time: 2 minutes
December 9, 2020
Food Packaging Forum (FPF) releases global database of initiatives and commitments by food retailers and brands to voluntarily improve their food packaging; includes efforts to improve chemical safety and resource efficiency beyond legal requirements; currently contains over 250 unique companies and associations, will be regularly updated
Reading time: 2 minutes
