India implements extended producer responsibility (EPR) program for plastic packaging, effective immediately; recycling targets for plastic producers, importers, and brand-owners start at 25% and progressively get stricter; Indian standards authority strengthens regulations for recycled plastic in food contact after receiving pushback
PFAS testing prompts packaging changes from US retailers, restaurants
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
Plastics policy in the UK needs clarity and reform
Greenpeace and Everyday Plastic publish results from voluntary plastic waste audit of nearly 100,000 UK homes; finds UK households throw away nearly 100 billion pieces of plastic a year, 83% of which is from food and drinks; waste organizations within the country ask for stronger policies and more clarity on existing goals
The Minderoo – Monaco Commission on Plastics and Human Health
Scientists, policy analysts, and healthcare workers from around the world announce formation of the Minderoo – Monaco Commission on Plastics and Human Health; Commission plans to analyze plastic’s health impacts and develop science-based solutions to protect human health until March 2023
Opinion: Commission’s EDC criteria are illegal
Environmental law organization ClientEarth publishes legal opinion judging the European Commission’s EDC criteria non-compliant with the mandating regulations
Public consultation on EFSA’s independence policy
EFSA launches public consultation on its draft policy on independence; deadline for submitting comments is May 5, 2017
EFSA: Scientific opinion on FCMs
EFSA’s CEF Panel publishes scientific opinion on safety assessment of FCMs, including technical report on the public consultation; recommends migration testing of finished FCMs and revisiting consumer exposure as well as requirements for toxicity data
EFSA determines titanium dioxide not safe as food additive
European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) releases new assessment of titanium dioxide as a food additive, could not rule out genotoxicity; change in opinion from last assessment in 2016; announcement does not affect food contact materials
New EFSA guidance documents for scientific assessments
EFSA’s Scientific Committee publishes new guidance on biological relevance of data and weight of evidence approach in scientific assessments
EFSA: Draft opinion on NMDR open for consultation
European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) draft opinion reviews literature on assessment of non-monotonic dose responses (NMDRs), finds lack of standards for statistical approaches; suggests stepwise approach for ambiguous ‘apparent’ NMDRs; approach applied in two case studies finds no NMDR for bisphenol A (BPA) but does for di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP); open for comments until February 4, 2021