Topics
hazard assessment
May 22, 2026
Publications outline process for post-market assessment of food chemicals, including in food contact; FPF comments on food chemical prioritization tool not addressed; FDA also reviewing safety of BHT and ADA as food additives
Reading time: 4 minutes
March 30, 2026
Scientists assessed the hazard of more than 500 antioxidants; identified 74.4% as toxic, 61% not readily biodegradable; study on 39 Chinese biodegradable food contact plastics finds they release several antioxidants under normal use conditions
Reading time: 4 minutes
November 4, 2025
European Parliament adopts final text of ‘one substance, one assessment’ package; three proposals aim to improve and streamline chemical safety assessments across the EU; now needs to be adopted by European Council of Ministers
Reading time: 2 minutes
August 21, 2024
European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & HealthCare updates guidance document on metals and alloys used for food contact; sets updated Specific Release Limits; assesses safety of various metals based on scientific evidence; emphasizes need for collaboration between stakeholders to minimize health risks from released substances
Reading time: 1 minute
June 7, 2022
Researchers led by the Food Packaging Forum (FPF) publish paper identifying 388 chemicals intentionally used in food contact materials (FCMs) that are harmful according to the EU’s Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability; 127 of these chemicals of concern have been measured to be present in FCMs including 30 monomers and 122 carcinogenic, mutagenic, or toxic to reproduction (CMR) chemicals
Reading time: 2 minutes
December 17, 2021
European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) re-evaluation proposes to significantly lower the tolerable daily intake of bisphenol A (BPA) from 4 to 0.00004 micrograms per kilogram of bodyweight per day due to immune system effects; finds many consumers likely exposed beyond the new safe limit; feedback accepted on the draft opinion until February 22, 2022
Reading time: 2 minutes
July 15, 2021
Food Packaging Forum publishes third episode of video blog; discusses the presence of non-intentionally added substances in food packaging and the safety and circular economy challenges they pose; reviews the limited enforcement of known chemicals in marketed food packaging, challenges posed by biodegradable packaging, and the approach of prioritizing the most hazardous chemicals
Reading time: 1 minute
May 28, 2021
ChemSec finds statement in recent European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) press release misleading; ECHA claims hazardous chemical usage down 97% in the European Union, but percentage based on chemical volumes in company applications for authorization and not on registered production volumes
Topics: ECHA, hazard assessment
Reading time: 0 minutes
October 29, 2020
8th annual Food Packaging Forum workshop focuses on linking policy-making with scientific research to improve the safety of food contact materials; video recordings, presentation slides, and summary articles now available online
Topics: bioplastics, cadmium, cancer, EFSA, exposure, glass, hazard assessment, lead, life cycle assessment, regulation
Reading time: 2 minutes
October 29, 2020
Kate Guyton reviews the work of International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), underlines the essential role played by independent scientific experts, describes processes used for evidence synthesis and carcinogen classification; key characteristics of carcinogens constitute an important approach to cancer hazard identification
Topics: cancer, hazard assessment
Reading time: 3 minutes
