News
The Food Packaging Forum reports on recent developments across the food packaging and health field.
June 9, 2022
US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) agrees to review the safety of bisphenol A (BPA) for use in food packaging; agency is responding to a petition filed by US civil society organizations after the European Food Safety Authority lowered official tolerable daily intake level of BPA by 100,000-fold
Reading time: 1 minute
June 7, 2022
Researchers led by the Food Packaging Forum (FPF) publish paper identifying 388 chemicals intentionally used in food contact materials (FCMs) that are harmful according to the EU’s Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability; 127 of these chemicals of concern have been measured to be present in FCMs including 30 monomers and 122 carcinogenic, mutagenic, or toxic to reproduction (CMR) chemicals
Reading time: 2 minutes
June 2, 2022
Thai Industrial Standards Institute (TISI) officially publishes standards for plastic utensils and microwaveable containers that come into contact with food; standards set migration limits for plastic food contact materials and defines how compliant packaging must be tested and marked; new standards effective January 3, 2023; improperly marked food contact articles will not be allowed on the market after the effective date
Reading time: 1 minute
June 1, 2022
Taiwan Food and Drug Administration publishes application and certification process for processing recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) for food contact; review process similar to those in the US and EU; manufacturers must demonstrate recycled pellets comply with either US or EU safety regulations
Reading time: 1 minute
June 1, 2022
European Commission sets recommended limits on mineral oil aromatic hydrocarbon (MOAH) contamination in food, effective immediately; Limits not currently binding, up to Member States to enforce; action follows December 2021 civil society investigation into levels of MOAH in foods on the European market
Topics: European Commission, MOAH
Reading time: 2 minutes
June 1, 2022
Partnership for the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals (PARC) begins operations; Horizon Europe project aims to “move towards a new generation of chemical risk assessment” through improved forecasting of emerging risks and accounting for combined risks; builds on the work of the European Joint Program on human biomonitoring (HBM4EU)
Reading time: 0 minutes
May 31, 2022
Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) launches web tool to help companies identify which chemicals of concern may be in their packaging or used within their supply chain; Users can search for a specific piece of packaging or equipment to find all potential hazardous chemicals, or search for a single chemical to find all the types of packaging that chemical may be used in
Reading time: 0 minutes
May 31, 2022
Food Packaging Forum updates its Database on Migrating and Extractable Food Contact Chemicals (FCCmigex) dashboard with page dedicated to research on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in food packaging; 29 PFAS have been detected migrating from food packaging into food or food simulants
Reading time: 1 minute
May 30, 2022
First meeting to draft the international plastics treaty in Dakar, Senegal taking place from May 30 to June 1, 2022 with representatives from government, industry, and civil society; technical briefing on May 29, 2022 shares information on the relationship between plastics, chemical exposure, and human health
Reading time: 3 minutes
May 30, 2022
Changing Markets Foundation and Break Free From Plastic investigate plastic pollution related actions made by 74 of the largest European supermarkets; Total average score of retailers was just 13/100, only Aldi UK and Aldi Ireland scored above 60; over 80% of companies had no information on total plastic use which “casts doubt” over plastic reduction pledges because there is no baseline data
Reading time: 2 minutes
