Zero Waste Europe, CHEMTrust, and HEAL launch website for toxic free food packaging campaign; campaign focuses on the revision of the EU food contact materials law
June 14, 2022
European Commission: Current food contact materials regulation “sub-optimal”
European Commission (EC) publishes working document on review of whether the EU Food Contact Material Regulation (EC) No. 1935/2004 is fit for purpose; finds regulation is “partly effective” but “overall, the efficiency… appears to be sub-optimal”; presents concerns including lack of specifics for materials other than plastics, non-intentionally added substances, supply chain transparency, oversight, and structure of risk assessments
June 14, 2022
FPF celebrates a decade committed to food packaging safety
Food Packaging Forum (FPF) celebrates ten years of independent research on food packaging, chemicals, and health to help guide evidence-based dialogue across all levels of the food and packaging supply chain; FPF remains committed to reviewing and communicating complex scientific information with the aim of safeguarding human health and the environment into its next decade
May 24, 2022
FCCmigex dashboard now has in-depth plastics page
Food Packaging Forum publishes interactive tool dedicated to exploring plastic food contact chemical research; released as an update of the Database on Migrating and Extractable Food Contact Chemicals (FCCmigex) dashboard; users can filter data by 12 polymer types, includes 1975 chemicals detected in plastics
May 19, 2022
Database sheds light on thousands of chemicals in food contact materials
Peer-reviewed study and freely available interactive tool provides systematic overview of food contact chemicals measured in migrates and extracts of food contact materials and articles
February 16, 2022
Overview of the packaging regulatory landscape
McKinsey & Company reviews packaging regulations from 30 countries around the globe; finds most focus on the beginning or end of the supply chain; groups countries into four regulatory “archetypes;” report not specific to food packaging but finds beverage packaging a large sector of packaging regulations
January 26, 2022
WSJ: attitudes towards single-use plastic changing in home kitchens
Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article discusses changing attitudes towards plastic in home kitchens; outlines the relatively recent history of plastic in the kitchen and recent cultural shifts towards using more reusable materials for storing and transporting food; FPF compares different reusable options, consumers encouraged to not forget about chemical migration and impacts on human health
January 19, 2022
Maine publishes food contact chemicals of concern list, postpones PFAS ban
US state of Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) publishes food packaging chemicals of high concern list; mandated by state legislation and limited to 10 chemicals; DEP postpones ban on PFAS in food packaging originally meant to begin in 2022; phthalate ban went into effect January 1, 2022
December 13, 2021
Successful packaging initiatives require more than changing materials
Consulting company Gartner Inc. predicts 90% of sustainable packaging commitments will not be met by 2025
November 3, 2021
EFSA CEP Panel updates from July to October 2021
Minutes available from recent meetings of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes and Processing Aids (CEP Panel) working groups on food contact materials (FCMs), bisphenol A (BPA), recycling plastics, phthalates, and extraction solvents
