News
The Food Packaging Forum reports on recent developments across the food packaging and health field.
March 3, 2020
Letter from stakeholders including civil society groups and actor Mark Ruffalo asks UK ministers to restrict per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in paper and board food packaging; petition to UK supermarkets collecting public signatures
Topics: PFAS
Reading time: 1 minute
March 3, 2020
Ministry of Environment report investigates improving management of hazardous chemicals by group, consideration of mixture toxicity in risk assessment; provides 11 recommendations for regulators; public comments accepted until May 29, 2020
Topics: mixture toxicity, risk assessment
Reading time: 1 minute
March 3, 2020
Group of 33 international scientists publish peer-reviewed statement identifying seven specific areas for improvement, urge decision makers to reduce exposure to harmful chemicals present in food packaging and other contact food contact materials
Reading time: 2 minutes
March 2, 2020
Minutes from recent meetings of the EFSA CEP panel and working groups on BPA, FCMs, and recycling plastics published
Reading time: 3 minutes
March 2, 2020
European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) launches inter-laboratory study to measure microplastics in water; will send spiked samples to 130 laboratories, evaluate their independent measurement results, identify methods to further harmonize
Topics: microplastics
Reading time: 1 minute
February 27, 2020
European Commission (EC) holds meeting reviewing draft regulatory texts for 15th and 16th amendment of plastics regulation 10/2011 and for plastic food contact materials (FCMs) recycling regulation; contemplates regulatory options for novel FCMs including plastics with bamboo fibers; presents specific updates and timelines for future work
Reading time: 5 minutes
February 27, 2020
UK branch of supermarket chain Lidl announces new packaging for fish made from at least 30% recycled ocean-bound plastic from March 2020; stakeholders raise concerns over safety of chemicals that could be present
Reading time: 2 minutes
February 26, 2020
Report from Nordic Council of Ministers reviews public information available for per- and polyfluoroalkylether substances (PFAEs); identifies 394 substances, find more than half do not exist in public chemical databases; limited data on identity, production, and uses
Topics: PFAS
Reading time: 2 minutes
February 26, 2020
White paper by Environmental Council of States (ECOS) reviews and compares regulations on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) by U.S. states; identifies state agencies’ considerations and unanswered questions that will influence future regulation
Topics: PFAS, regulation
Reading time: 1 minute
February 25, 2020
European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) latest draft opinion proposes group tolerable weekly intake (TWI) limit of 8 ng/kg body weight for 4 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS); opens public comment period until April 20, 2020, plans technical workshop in Brussels on March 12, 2020
Reading time: 2 minutes
