On October 24, 2019, the European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) Food Ingredients and Packaging (FIP) Unit published the minutes of the 4th meeting of its Working Group on bisphenol S (WG-BPS). The meeting was held on October 14, 2019, by teleconference. The discussion focused on the methodology and conclusions of the assessment of the extended one-generation reproductive toxicity study (EOGRTS), and final reports of the toxicokinetic and metabolism studies were also presented and briefly discussed. A date was not yet published for the next meeting of the WG-BPS.
The EFSA Panel on Food Contact materials, Enzymes and Processing Aids (CEP Panel) published the minutes of the 13th meeting of its Working Group on bisphenol A (WG-BPA) re-evaluation held on September 16-17, 2019, in Parma, Italy. During the meeting, the experts discussed the final technical report that summarizes the outcome of the pilot phase for testing the 2017 appraisal methodology. A webinar on the topic will be held on November 15, 2019 (FPF reported). The group also discussed the templates for the summaries of studies on Mode of Action as well as papers still to be reviewed. The next meeting was scheduled to be held on October 24-25, 2019 in Parma, Italy.
On October 24, 2019, the EFSA CEP Panel published the minutes of the 9th meeting of its Working Group on Food Contact Materials (WG-FCM). The meeting was held on October 8-10, 2019 in Parma, Italy. During the meeting, the group continued discussion on the mandate regarding untreated wood flour and fibers (FCM No 96; EFSA-Q-2019-00089) and further revised the draft opinion. The opinion will now be scheduled for discussion and potential adoption by the CEP Panel. The group reviewed dossiers received from the applicants regarding the use of 1,1,2,3,3-pentafluoro-3-(heptafluoro-propoxy)prop-1-ene as a monomer in plastics (EFSA-Q-2019-00099) and of cyclooctene homopolymer (PCOE) and cobalt stearate (EFSA-Q-2019-00387). The group decided that more information is needed to complete the risk assessments for both requests, and the evaluations have been suspended pending this additional information. The experts further discussed bis(2-ethylhexyl)-cyclohexane-1,4-dicarboxylate (EFSA-Q-2018-00549) following receipt of additional information from the applicant. The draft opinion was revised, and it is scheduled for additional discussion at the next WG-FCM meeting. The WG-FCM also discussed the ongoing activity related to the prioritization of substances without a specific migration limit (SML; EFSA-Q-2019-00150) on the FCM Union List. The group is reported to have discussed “the criteria, methodology and tools available to prioritize the substances.” The next WG-FCM meeting will take place on November 26-28, 2019 in Parma, Italy.
On October 8, 2019, the EFSA CEP Panel published the minutes of the 9th meeting of its Working Group on Recycling Plastics. The meeting was held on October 7-8, 2019 by teleconference. The group discussed the draft opinion for the MALKO re-circulation plate (EFSA-Q-2019-00016) and for the STF (EREMA Basic) process (EFSA-Q-2019-00384) and determined that more information is needed to complete the risk assessment. The evaluations have been suspended pending receipt of this additional information from the applicants. The group also discussed and revised the opinions for the Ltd. PolyER (Starlinger deCON) process (EFSA-Q-2019-00372) and the RE-PET (EREMA Basic) process (EFSA-Q-2019-00386). These two draft opinions are set to be scheduled for discussed and potential adoption by the CEP Panel. An exact date has not yet been set, but the next meeting of the group will take place in November 2019.
Read more
EFSA FIP (October 24, 2019). “Minutes of the 4th meeting of the working group on bisphenol S (BPS).” (pdf)
EFSA CEP Panel (October 2, 2019). “Minutes of the 13th meeting of the working group on BPA re-evaluation.” (pdf)
EFSA CEP Panel (October 24, 2019). “Minutes of the 9th meeting of the working group on food contact materials 2018-2021.” (pdf)
EFSA CEP Panel (October 8, 2019). “Minutes of the 9th meeting of the working group on recycling plastics 2018-2021.” (pdf)
