News
The Food Packaging Forum reports on recent developments across the food packaging and health field.
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
May 13, 2025
The Competent Authorities for REACH and CLP (CARACAL) presented their plans for a revision of the REACH regulation; receives heavy criticism from industry and civil society; still under development and expected to be adopted by the European Commission in Q4 2025
Reading time: 2 minutes
April 30, 2025
During April plenary, European Parliament voted for ‘one substance, one assessment’ package; aims to increase cooperation and reallocate tasks across European agencies involved in chemical legislation and monitoring, create common chemical data platform
Reading time: 2 minutes
April 28, 2025
Regulation amending several EU regulations on plastic food contact material (FCMs) entered into force on March 16, 2025; broadens scope, addresses non-intentionally added substances, and introduces labeling requirements for repeated use plastic articles
Reading time: 3 minutes
April 25, 2025
Consumer survey by the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) shows that 68% and 16 % are very or medium concerned about “microplastics in food; “plastics” were rated as the second greatest health risk for consumers
Topics: microplastics
Reading time: 1 minute
April 15, 2025
A coalition of ten Swiss civil society organizations call on the Swiss government to strengthen measures against plastic pollution; want to see ban on unnecessary single-use items and phase out of hazardous chemicals in plastic packaging; call for recognition of plastic pollution as not only an environmental but also a health issue
Topics: plastic, Switzerland
Reading time: 2 minutes
April 14, 2025
Scientists perform targeted and non-targeted chemical screening of 33 bio-based dishes; report melamine presence in majority of tested bamboo tableware; migration partly exceeds EU’s legal limit; besides melamine, up to eleven different pesticide residues detected per bio-based container
Topics: melamine
Reading time: 2 minutes
April 11, 2025
Study investigates organophosphates, phthalates and other plasticizers in 52 ultra-processed plant-based foods; finds these chemicals in higher levels than in comparable animal-based foods; cheese-alternatives more contaminated than meat- and fish-alternatives; identifies food packaging as one source of contamination
Topics: extraction, food processing
Reading time: 2 minutes
