News
The Food Packaging Forum reports on recent developments across the food packaging and health field.
April 4, 2022
European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) publishes literature review to find and evaluate risks that could come from a circular economy, actions the agency could take to mitigate any risks; suggests further research on exposure risks from shelf life extending materials as well as recycled, reusable, and biobased packaging; European Commission proposes ecodesign for sustainable products regulation; Ireland’s cabinet passes circular economy bill
Reading time: 4 minutes
April 4, 2022
In the first quarter of 2022 Circle Economy, the OECD, and Zero Waste Europe publish reports investigating various aspects of material value chains and share insights to ‘close the circularity gap’ and ‘bend the plastics curve’; evaluate material usage globally, plastics in OECD nations and globally, and PET in Europe
Reading time: 4 minutes
April 1, 2022
US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) removes the last two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from the agency’s Safer Chemical Ingredients List; Safer Choice Program products to be PFAS-free by March 2023; issues letter to handlers of fluorinated polyolefin containers raising awareness for presence of unintended PFAS that may violate Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)
Reading time: 2 minutes
March 31, 2022
Reporters from Bloomberg track three pieces of flexible plastic after they were placed in British grocery store recycling bins; some flexible plastics are recyclable, but others may end up burned for energy; one product ended up in Poland, likely burned in a cement factory; another in a Turkish facility where recycling is questionable
Reading time: 0 minutes
March 30, 2022
Standing Committee of the European Commission debates a slightly revised draft regulation on recycled plastics in food contact materials (FCMs); voting carried out as written procedure; final decision expected to be favorable
Reading time: 2 minutes
March 30, 2022
Market research from German consumer organization Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband (VZBV) finds consumers are concerned about food packaging safety but have little understanding of chemicals in packaging; consumers assume all food contact materials and their components have been tested for safety
Reading time: 3 minutes
March 29, 2022
Consumer Reports tests 118 food packaging products from 24 US fast food and grocery chains; finds PFAS in over half of the products; nearly one third of packaging products contain over 20 ppm and 22 over 100 ppm organic fluorine; several brands commit or re-commit to removing intentionally added PFAS from their packaging
Topics: PFAS
Reading time: 4 minutes
March 24, 2022
New initiative to create reusable packaging system for Flemish region of Belgium; over 80 companies across the food, consumer products, and packaging supply chain sign on; Belgian federal government launching action plan on endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs)
Reading time: 2 minutes
March 21, 2022
Scientists review the association between bisphenol A (BPA) exposure and declines in semen quality based on animal and epidemiological studies; assess weight of evidence of associations and estimate BPA reference dose of 0.003 µg/kg/d for male reproductive health for use in mixture risk assessments
Reading time: 2 minutes
March 18, 2022
California Ocean Protection Council (COPC) publishes unanimously-approved roadmap for state microplastics policy; includes 22 possible immediate actions to limit microplastics based on current knowledge and a 13-point research strategy to inform later actions; German government publishes report on the state of knowledge of microplastics pollution and options for action
Reading time: 3 minutes
