News
The Food Packaging Forum reports on recent developments across the food packaging and health field.
February 4, 2022
Cross-sectional study with over 1200 participants finds relation between bisphenol S (BPS) and heart disease; BPS is commonly used to replace bisphenol A (BPA) in food packaging and other products
Reading time: 0 minutes
February 4, 2022
US Plastics Pact, whose signatories produce 33% of packaging in the US by weight, publishes list of eleven plastic food packaging materials and food contact chemicals that are “problematic and unnecessary”; includes cutlery, polystyrene (PS), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), PFAS, and carbon black
Reading time: 0 minutes
February 3, 2022
US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) adds 15 new entries to its Inventory of Effective Food Contact Substance Notifications (FCNs) since October 2021; FDA proposes update to procedure to determine when FCNs are no longer effective; update open for comment until April 11, 2022
Reading time: 2 minutes
February 1, 2022
Malaysia proposes revision of allowable uses for eleven chemicals, including seven used in food contact material (FCM) applications; Vietnam’s revised Law on Environmental Protection comes into effect, launches nationwide extended producer responsibility scheme for domestic producers and importers; Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives publishes report that chemical recycling plant in Indonesia, launched by Unilever in 2017, was “secretly shuttered” after two years; Sri Lanka proposes plastic pellets be classified as dangerous goods during maritime shipping
Reading time: 4 minutes
February 1, 2022
17th meeting of the Stockholm Convention’s Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee (POPRC) considers scientific evidence, agrees to move all substances onto next step in review process; long-chain perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCAs), medium-chain chlorinated paraffins, and UV-328 all known to have been used in food packaging
Reading time: 3 minutes
January 31, 2022
More than 40 representatives of the European public discuss concerns with EU institutions; panel on climate change and health adopts 51 recommendations for the EU; includes recommendation for ‘swift elimination of non-sustainable packaging’
Reading time: 0 minutes
January 31, 2022
Scotland plans to redirect ‘tens of millions’ of drinks bottles and cans to recycling streams by adding deposits; starting 2023, consumers pay extra 20 pence on purchase but get money back when container returned; roll-out delayed one year due to Brexit and pandemic
Reading time: 0 minutes
January 28, 2022
Scientists respond to perspective article providing clarifications on plastic-driven long-range environmental transport (LRET) of chemical additives; discuss nine shortcomings of the perspective; suggest omitting the perspective article in discussions on plastic debris-associated LRET of additives
Topics: microplastics, regulation
Reading time: 2 minutes
January 27, 2022
US scientists, public health and environmental organizations submit formal petition to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requesting it to restrict or remove current bisphenol A approvals for use in food packaging; cite new scientific evidence showing safe exposure level 5,000-times below FDA’s current limit
Reading time: 2 minutes
January 26, 2022
Researchers analyze plastic extracts for their chemical composition and promotion of obesity; find one-third induce fat production (adipogenesis); detect several thousand chemicals in the extracts, including known metabolism-disrupting chemicals
Reading time: 2 minutes
