National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment calls for public comment on new food contact materials (FCMs) and chemicals as well as expanded uses; feedback accepted until March 11, 2020
China solicits comments on FCMs, new resins
Agency announces expanded uses for three food contact materials and articles, three new resins, and one new food contact substance; public comments accepted until December 25, 2019
NIAS in polypropylene films
Scientists study migration from food packaging films made of polypropylene; 74 compounds identified, 76% of them NIAS; 35% of samples show migration exceeding either SML or Cramer class-based recommendations
Implementation of EU circular economy plan
EU Commission evaluates implementation of its circular economy plan; all 54 actions outlined in 2015 ‘have now been delivered or are being implemented’
New York City again bans polystyrene foam packaging
Expanded polystyrene food packaging to be banned in the City of New York effective November 13, 2017; foam recycling found not “economically feasible” or “environmentally effective”
Tesco trials packaging-free produce
UK retailer launches trial at two stores to sell 45 produce products without packaging for one month; aims to keep reducing amount of packaging and ensure recyclability
BPA in various food products
Environmental Working Group launches database with over 16,000 food products possibly in contact with BPA-containing food packaging
EU Council adopts single-use plastic bans
European Council formally adopts new rules on single-use plastics and recycling targets; directive completes final step before becoming law; England to ban plastic straws, stirrers, and cotton buds from April 2020
WSJ: attitudes towards single-use plastic changing in home kitchens
Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article discusses changing attitudes towards plastic in home kitchens; outlines the relatively recent history of plastic in the kitchen and recent cultural shifts towards using more reusable materials for storing and transporting food; FPF compares different reusable options, consumers encouraged to not forget about chemical migration and impacts on human health
New Walmart policy may reduce toxins in consumer products
Walmart secretive about 10 ‘high priority’ chemicals to be removed from consumer products, policy may nevertheless transform consumer product manufacture