European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) publishes scientific opinion on bisphenol A (BPA); tolerable daily intake reduced by a factor of 20 000; concludes that there is a health concern from current dietary BPA exposure levels for entire population
German printing ink regulation progresses
Germany notifies EU Commission of new draft regulation for printed food contact materials; final decision not before October 6, 2016
Migration of cyclo-di-BADGE into oily foods
German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment evaluates migration of NIAS cyclo-di-BADGE from can coatings into oily fish; suggests TTC of 90 µg/person/day and generating more toxicity data
Toxicity assessment of sol-gel coatings
Scientists assess sol-gel coatings on polycarbonate plastics; migration found below the overall migration limit; no genotoxicity or estrogenicity in vitro
ENVI committee adopts resolution on chemicals strategy
Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) Committee of European Parliament passes resolution calling for upcoming chemicals strategy to fully apply precautionary and polluter-pays principles; resulting legislation should address and minimize endocrine disrupting and other hazardous chemicals in products including food packaging and recycled materials
PET recycling will not meet brand commitments
National Association for PET Container Resources concludes that U.S. PET recycling rates too low to meet brand commitments for recycled content; calls for action, including improving collection
News from the EU Commission on food contact materials
EU Commission plans authorization of two new substances for use in food contact plastics, postpones discussions on new ceramics legislation and discusses Declaration of Compliance issues
Reviews examine biobased polymers
Several recent reviews examine the value chain of biobased polymers; discuss clarification of terms such as biobased, degradable, biodegradable, and compostable; define “biotechnological recycling (bio-recycling)” as the use of enzymes and microorganisms in a technological setting to biodegrade polymers; three biodegradable polymers assessed in marine field trials
EFSA evaluates fluorinated comonomer for use in FCMs
EFSA’s CEF Panel considers 2,3,3,4,4,5,5-heptafluoro-1-pentene safe for use in food contact materials under certain conditions
Study linking BPA to systemic complications causes heated debate
Study links BPA metabolite to biomarker of systemic stress and infers an association with chronic diseases