On March 10, 2022, the Food Packaging Forum (FPF) submitted comments to Wood, an advisory service working on behalf of the European Commission (EC), to provide feedback on whether the EU’s Framework Regulation on Food Contact Materials (FCMs) would benefit from the integration of an essential use concept (ESU). One week earlier, Wood had hosted a virtual stakeholder workshop to present initial findings from their study meant to assist incorporation of ESU into REACH and other relevant EU chemicals legislation including the one on FCMs (FPF reported). Stakeholders were allowed to provide feedback during the event as well as to submit written comments after.
FPF recommended that the ESU can facilitate the phasing out of many non-essential and harmful substances from FCMs. PFAS, for instance, have been demonstrated as non-essential in non-stick cookware since their use in non-stick cookware is unnecessary for health, is not critical for the functioning of society, and safer alternatives exist (FPF reported). Colorants in FCMs are another example. According to ESU criteria, colorants are not essential since their primary purpose is marketing. FPF also highlighted that the ESU will make the phase-out of harmful chemicals more effective by addressing entire groups of chemicals simultaneously, like colorants. At the same time, the ESU could help to reduce the chemical complexity of FCMs which would support a circular economy and other EU targets. Another point FPF raised is that the absence of most harmful chemicals is not guaranteed by the current regulatory approach as demonstrated by scientific studies reporting on the presence and migration of harmful chemicals from multiple types of FCMs (FPF reported and here).
Although the ESU is not about the essentiality of food packaging in general but rather about the essentiality of substances they contain, the question of whether food packaging is “essential” was nevertheless brought up during the workshop. Therefore, FPF clarified that food packaging can play a role in reducing food waste but also serves other functions, such as enabling globalized business models, supporting marketing, or enabling convenience, and thus food packaging itself is not per definition essential.
FPF concluded that “there is a clear need (i.e. public health benefit) to apply the ESU for FCMs, especially when considering the wide use of FCMs combined with the currently ongoing and complex uses of harmful substances that can be used to produce them.” Since the EU FCM regulations are currently being revised (FPF reported), FPF recommended integrating the ESU during the revision.
Reference
Food Packaging Forum (March 10, 2022). “Comments on the essential use concept following the European Commission workshop held on March 3, 2022.”
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EC (March 3, 2022). “Stakeholder consultation workshop on the essential use concept (ESU).”
