News
The Food Packaging Forum reports on recent developments across the food packaging and health field.
April 21, 2020
Documents available for all 20 of the identified high-priority substances for risk evaluation under Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), includes 5 phthalates relevant for food contact materials; 45-day comment period ends for first round of 13 published documents on May 26, 2020
Reading time: 1 minute
April 21, 2020
Environmental Health News calls for reducing public’s exposure to toxic chemicals within food packaging, processed foods; cites studies linking COVID-19 death risk to existing chronic conditions, calls out chemicals as exacerbating the problem
Reading time: 2 minutes
April 21, 2020
Food Packaging Forum (FPF) publishes background article and dossier informing about microplastics; discusses sources, analytical approaches, health hazards, and risk assessment
Topics: dossier, microplastics
Reading time: 1 minute
April 17, 2020
European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) publishes technical report considering two new toxicological studies on bisphenol S (BPS) submitted under REACH; determines that current specific migration limit of 0.05 mg/kg food remains unaffected, calls for more data on migration into food
Topics: bisphenol S
Reading time: 1 minute
April 17, 2020
German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) publishes updates to non-binding recommendations for various food contact materials (FCMs); includes new migration limits for slimicides and aluminum in paper and board, catalyst residues in polypropylene and polyethylene, new monomers for polymer dispersions
Topics: migration, regulation
Reading time: 1 minute
April 17, 2020
Current migration limit of 0.5 mg/L in glazed pottery criticized as not protective for workers; government announces new standard will be released in 2020, no further details provided
Topics: lead
Reading time: 1 minute
April 17, 2020
Civil society organizations publish report summarizing existing government policies across US states for disclosing information about chemical ingredients in consumer products
Topics: regulation, risk communication
Reading time: 1 minute
April 15, 2020
2020 edition of packaging industry event centers almost exclusively around issues of plastic pollution and recycling; next year’s conference to take place on February 8-10, 2021
Reading time: 2 minutes
April 14, 2020
Publication in the journal Nature reports new enzyme able to break down 90% of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic into monomers within ten hours, outperforms all previously discovered enzymes
Reading time: 1 minute
April 14, 2020
Report by research firm Markets and Markets focuses on “eco-friendly food packaging”; expects paper and paperboard packaging to post significant growth through 2025 with Asia-Pacific region to see largest increase; growth catalyzed by stringent regulations and shift in consumer preferences
Topics: market, paper & board
Reading time: 2 minutes
