The Food Packaging Forum’s (FPF’s) Database on Migrating and Extractable Food Contact Chemicals (FCCmigex) received a major update made public on April 12, 2023. This new version brings the database up to date with recent studies on food contact chemicals. Previously, FCCmigex included studies published between 1976 and May 2021 (FPF reported). This has now been extended to include another 149 research articles available online by October 2022. Currently, the database includes a total of 1355 scientific studies, information on more than 4200 food contact chemicals with CAS registry numbers, and over 24,000 database entries overall. This is an increase of 11%, 40%, and 17%, respectively. The material group studied the most remains plastics.
FCCmigex systematically maps the scientific evidence of food contact chemicals (FCCs) that have been measured in migrates and extracts of food contact materials and articles. All FCCs in the database were investigated either for their presence in food contact materials or for their propensity to transfer into food under real-world conditions, thus making human exposure to these chemicals highly probable.
The dashboard includes chemicals with CAS registry numbers along with a few commonly studied mixtures such as mineral oil hydrocarbons and chlorinated paraffins. There is also a page of the dashboard dedicated to plastics where one can investigate the FCCs detected in 12 plastic polymers.
Recent years have not only seen an increasing number of studies conducted on food contact materials but also a higher number of chemicals examined per study. A shift from studies targeting only a few chemicals to using more untargeted analyses is one reason for the strong increase in detected FCCs. In the future, applying such screening studies may help to better understand the chemical mixtures that migrate from food contact materials.
The FCCmigex database is part of FPF’s ongoing Food Contact Chemicals and Human Health (FCCH) Project. In November 2020, the Food Contact Chemicals Database (FCCdb) and an accompanying scientific article were published providing an overview of intentionally used food contact chemicals and their hazards. Work is currently underway investigating which FCCs have also been analyzed in humans. Detection of these chemicals in human samples provides evidence for exposure that may be attributable to food contact materials and articles.
Reference
Food Packaging Forum (2023). “Database on Migrating and Extractable Food Contact Chemicals (FCCmigex).” Interactive tool
Read more
Geueke, B. et al. (2022). “Systematic evidence on migrating and extractable food contact chemicals: Most chemicals detected in food contact materials are not listed for use.” Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, DOI: 10.1080/10408398.2022.2067828
Food Packaging Forum (November 2020). “Food contact chemicals database (FCCdb).” Interactive tool
Groh, K. et al. (2020) “Overview of intentionally used food contact chemicals and their hazards.” Environment International, DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2020.106225
