News
The Food Packaging Forum reports on recent developments across the food packaging and health field.
February 18, 2022
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reports replacements for long-chain PFAS in paper and board food packaging have little or no available hazard information; examines 58 long-chain PFAS replacements: 10 have been formally reviewed by governmental authorities, 26 by industry, 18 have no hazard assessments; Environmental Health News reports US states to consider over 200 PFAS bills in 2022
Reading time: 2 minutes
February 17, 2022
More than 110,000 UK citizens sign petition asking government to create UK version of EU’s Single Use Plastics Directive and effectively ban single use plastics; UK was included in the EU directive prior to Brexit
Reading time: 0 minutes
February 16, 2022
McKinsey & Company reviews packaging regulations from 30 countries around the globe; finds most focus on the beginning or end of the supply chain; groups countries into four regulatory “archetypes;” report not specific to food packaging but finds beverage packaging a large sector of packaging regulations
Reading time: 2 minutes
February 16, 2022
Systematic literature review identifies eight studies analyzing styrene levels in food; reports average level of 91.53 µg styrene/kg food; highlights knowledge gaps on other foodstuff besides dairy products
Reading time: 1 minute
February 15, 2022
World Wildlife Fund (WWF) publishes principles for chemical recycling to avoid harming human health or goals for circular economy; should not compete with mechanical recycling, need transparency about resource consumption; prioritize reduction, reuse over recycling; WWF and Alfred Wegener Institute report on plastics’ impacts on oceans; plastic contamination is permanent; at least 2144 species affected, 99.8% of seabird species will eat plastics by 2050
Reading time: 3 minutes
February 15, 2022
At the One Ocean Summit on February 10, the United States and France delivered a joint statement supporting a global plastics treaty; agree treaty should address whole lifecycle of plastics and include binding commitments
Reading time: 0 minutes
February 15, 2022
Scientific commentary discusses pregnancy- and child-relevant exposure to and impacts of nano- and microplastics: finds 37 studies mostly on plastic particles in food and placental transfer, identifies major knowledge gaps, and advocates policymakers and industry to implement precautionary approaches; Nature Reviews Materials article proposes microplastic risk assessment framework
Reading time: 4 minutes
February 9, 2022
Scientists develop holistic conceptual framework to characterize and rank the environmental risks of plastic polymers; tool can support targeted investment and mitigation strategies
Reading time: 2 minutes
February 8, 2022
Review provides guidance to select analytical technique for non-intentionally added substances (NIAS) identification and quantification in food contact materials (FCMs); scientific studies analyze NIAS migrating from FCMs; develop model to predict collision cross-section values to identify NIAS in FCMs; detect polyethylene terephthalate (PET) oligomers in post-mortem blood samples
Reading time: 4 minutes
February 8, 2022
Scientific study compares chemicals migrating from new plastic sport bottles and bottles after dishwashing and one year in use; detects over 400 plastic-related compounds including oligomers and aromatic amines; finds dishwashing to increase migration
Reading time: 2 minutes
