News
The Food Packaging Forum reports on recent developments across the food packaging and health field.
August 13, 2020
Scientists examine effects of recycled PET (rPET) on bottles’ properties, propose generic model to calculate acceptable rPET content for different scenarios; bottles from mono-collection systems have less particle contamination, more favorable optical properties, lower accumulation of contaminants, and therefore recommended to allow higher recycled content
Reading time: 4 minutes
August 13, 2020
European Union notifies World Trade Organization of proposed amendment to REACH Restriction List (Annex XVII) to restrict manufacturing, use, placing on the market and import of C9-C14 perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCAs), their salts and related substances within the EU; long-chain PFCAs can be present in food contact materials as impurities but also degradation products of long-chain fluorotelomers
Reading time: 9 minutes
August 12, 2020
German Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) publishes guideline for assessment of health risks, outlining adopted procedures; transparency on risk assessment is crucial component of risk communication
Topics: risk assessment, risk communication
Reading time: 1 minute
August 12, 2020
European Commission’s implementing regulation makes updating of REACH dossiers mandatory, sets defined deadlines for specific cases according to updates’ complexity
Topics: compliance, REACH
Reading time: 1 minute
August 12, 2020
US NGO Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families releases guides on eliminating per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from food packaging used by fast-food restaurants and grocery chains
Topics: PFAS, substitution
Reading time: 1 minute
August 7, 2020
Mind the Store campaign and Toxic-Free Future collect and test 29 food packaging samples from 6 US fast food chains for fluorine levels; find that burger wrappers and containers from McDonald’s and Burger King likely treated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS); paper bags used for French fries and deserts have consistently high fluorine levels
Topics: PFAS
Reading time: 2 minutes
August 7, 2020
Defines registration process for chemicals in food contact articles under new national regulatory scheme; requires additional testing of specific target organ toxicity and record-keeping of migration levels
Topics: regulation
Reading time: 1 minute
August 6, 2020
European Commission publishes regulation restricting the use and placing on the market of diisocyanates after August 24, 2023; diisocyanates will not be allowed to be used alone, in other substances, or in mixtures above a concentration of 0.1% by weight; industrial and professional uses permitted only after completing safety training
Topics: REACH
Reading time: 1 minute
August 6, 2020
Adopts most of the text previously agreed while EU member; outlines small technical changes from Waste Framework Directive, confirms intention to continue transition towards a circular economy
Topics: circular economy, recycling
Reading time: 1 minute
August 5, 2020
Emergency resolution originally set to expire in July 2020 extended for six months until January 16, 2021; sets migration limits for lead and cadmium from ceramic and glass food contact materials into food
Reading time: 1 minute
