News
The Food Packaging Forum reports on recent developments across the food packaging and health field.
June 5, 2025
Make Our Children Healthy Again Assessment aims to summarize US “childhood chronic disease crisis and any potential contributing causes”; Assessment mandated by Executive Order with additional recommendations and strategy forthcoming; part of the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) project spearheaded by Secretary Robert F Kennedy, Jr.
Reading time: 5 minutes
June 4, 2025
Translated frequently asked questions (FAQ) detail requirements for Japanese plastic food contact materials positive list; transitional measures for complying with the positive list will expire on May 31, 2025; new draft proposal on reassessment of substances on the positive list
Reading time: 1 minute
June 3, 2025
European scientists write an open letter to the European Commission; express that the proposed scope of the REACH revision does not reflect current scientific evidence; call for inclusion of a mixture assessment factor to account for chemical mixtures
Topics: mixture toxicity, REACH
Reading time: 2 minutes
June 2, 2025
Scientists analyze currently used indicators for monitoring and enforcing waste prevention; include 123 national and company indicators in Europe; analysis reveals large disparities, inconsistencies, and gaps in current waste prevention indicators, potentially enabling greenwashing
Reading time: 3 minutes
May 30, 2025
Study investigates commodity global plastic flows across production, trade, and waste management in 2022; finds that of 400 million tonnes, less than 10% come from recycling and less than 2 % from bio-based feedstocks; single-use packaging as biggest contributor to plastic waste
Reading time: 2 minutes
May 27, 2025
Scientists expose mice to environmentally relevant doses of starch-based microplastics over three months; report wide range of impacts, including disputed lipid metabolism, higher blood glucose, increased hepatic oxidative stress, and changes in gene expression, potentially disrupting circadian rhythms
Topics: microplastics
Reading time: 3 minutes
May 26, 2025
NGOs conduct largest citizen survey on waste in Switzerland; 11,586 people report disposing of 215,463 pieces of plastic in one week; 83% is food or beverage packaging; consumers raise concern concerns about health impacts of plastic chemicals and want companies to take more responsibility; NGOs highlight demands for action in Switzerland
Reading time: 2 minutes
May 19, 2025
Scientists assess 30 legacy and emerging per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in serum samples of 630 adults living in Switzerland; find legacy PFAS to be predominant while emerging ones are marginal; three PFAS present in all samples; some samples exceed health limits
Topics: PFAS
Reading time: 2 minutes
May 16, 2025
Scientists from the Food Packaging Forum, INSERM, New York University and ETH Zurich publish article in Nature Medicine outlining health impacts of exposure to synthetic chemicals in food with a focus on food contact chemicals (FCCs) from packaging and processing; identify exposure to FCCs as an underappreciated health concern; emphasize link between FCCs and ultra-processed foods; describe future research needs and policy recommendations
Reading time: 2 minutes
May 15, 2025
Review from the Nordic Council of Ministers assesses use of non-target screening (NTS) or suspect screening (SS) to identify chemicals relevant for regulatory action; evaluates 38 relevant documents for chemicals identified and study reliability; outlines current challenges of NTS and SS for chemical screening and regulation; recommends using only for early warning purposes until limitations are overcome
Topics: chemical analytics, regulation
Reading time: 2 minutes
