EU Commission’s DG SANTE publishes Inception Impact Assessment as roadmap for revision of EU regulations on food contact materials; outlines eight main “issues” identified during ongoing evaluation, possible policy options to be considered by planned Impact Assessment; commenting period open until January 29, 2021
2022 FPF Workshop: FCM developments in the last decade
On the morning of the Food Packaging Forum’s annual workshop, speakers discuss changes in food contact material (FCM) regulation in the EU, US, and Asia; panels discuss key research and policy developments over the last decade
Wrestling with the externalities of the plastics supply chain
As the first meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiation Committee of the UN Global Treaty to End Plastic Pollution approaches, publications highlight the diverse effects the plastics supply chain has on human health and the environment, particularly the burden on vulnerable communities
2023 FPF Workshop: Goals and policy processes for safe and sustainable FCMs
On the morning of the Food Packaging Forum’s 11th annual workshop, speakers share processes to measure sustainable food packaging while accounting for multiple concerns; three speakers share findings from developing frameworks to make packaging safer, account for tradeoffs, and reduce plastic packaging use; three speakers share how policy is developed at the United Nations and European Union
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
Plastic recycling: company commitments and chemical safety challenges
Scientists report most large companies commit to reducing plastic pollution but focus on recycling; extrusion of recycled materials and legacy compounds in recycled materials as safety challenge; some substances increase others decrease with the increase in recycled content in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles; tentatively identify 212 volatile chemicals in 57 different recycled PET flakes available in China; present migration model to characterize the exposure and risk of PET oligomers
Summer 2023 research snapshot: PFAS in food packaging, food, and potential health impacts
A summary of eight studies; scientists quantify per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in French fast food packaging; detect eleven PFAS in baking trays from China but not Spain; find PFAS in straws made of paper, bamboo, glass, and plastic; “compostable” service ware can contaminate compost with PFAS; find PFAS in edible oil worldwide; further articles focus on PFAS in drinking water, in Asia, and effects on child respiratory health
EU notifies C9-C14 PFCA restriction to WTO
European Union notifies World Trade Organization of proposed amendment to REACH Restriction List (Annex XVII) to restrict manufacturing, use, placing on the market and import of C9-C14 perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCAs), their salts and related substances within the EU; long-chain PFCAs can be present in food contact materials as impurities but also degradation products of long-chain fluorotelomers
Several studies determine chemical migration from food packaging
Researchers from several European and Chinese institutions develop methods to explore chemicals in food contact materials (FCMs); report styrene migration from different polystyrene FCMs into several food matrices; detect photoinitiators in paper FCMs and chlorinated paraffins in green tea and its packaging; find irradiation treatment of metalized polypropylene to reduce migration of tested chemicals
2021 FPF Workshop: Understanding supply chains and improving policies
On the second day of the Food Packaging Forum’s annual workshop, speakers discuss the investments necessary to understand complex food and packaging supply chains and the benefits of taking the time to do so; assessing plastic circularity through a more honest assessment of the post-consumer life of plastics; the ongoing work of European Commission’s food contact materials policy revision