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Food for Thought
January 2024
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Welcome to 'Food for Thought', a newsletter sharing key updates on food contact material (FCM) policy, ideas for revised FCM legislation and useful resources. There are thousands of chemicals in food contact materials that can potentially migrate into our food or drink, and many of these chemicals can harm our health and pollute the environment. This is why we need more protective regulation.
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European Council reaches agreement on Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation
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On 18th December 2023, the Council reached an agreement on a proposal for the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR).
While the European Parliament's position, agreed in November 2023, introduces a direct ban on per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) and bisphenol A (BPA) in food contact packaging, the Council does not propose any substantial immediate changes in the PPWR. The Council calls on the Commission and the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) to prepare a report by 2026 on the presence of substances of concern in packaging, to determine whether they negatively affect the re-use or recycling of materials or have an impact on chemical safety. Read more in Zero Waste Europe's press release here.
The interinstitutional negotiations ('trilogues') on the Commission's proposal to revise the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive started in January 2024.
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Study finds PFAS in single-use food contact materials
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A study by IPEN and 18 IPEN member groups found PFAS, also known as 'forever chemicals', in single-use food contact materials from 17 countries across Asia, Africa, Europe, North America and Latin America and the Caribbean.
119 samples of food packaging and tableware made from paper, cardboard, and plant-based moulded fibre were purchased and tested for 58 specific PFAS and extractable organic fluorine (EOF). 64 of the samples (53.8%) were found to contain PFAS or had levels indicating the presence of PFAS.
IPEN highlights that products made from plant-based fibres, advertised as biodegradable or compostable, consistently had the highest levels of PFAS. This is concerning as PFAS are extremely persistent, and once in the environment will last for generations to come.
A similar study from 2021 conducted by 8 non-profit organisations including CHEM Trust and the Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL), found that 32 of the 42 items tested had been intentionally treated with PFAS. The highest concentrations of PFAS were similarly found in moulded fibre products advertised as biodegradable or compostable.
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New scientific research indicates PFAS can increase risk of disease in unborn children
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A new scientific study published in the Lancet Planetary Health by researchers at the University of Aberdeen and Örebro University indicates that exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) affects people as early as the fetal stage of development.
The study provides evidence that fetuses exposed to PFAS have altered metabolism and liver function even before birth, which may increase the risk of metabolic diseases, like diabetes, in adulthood.
The study illustrates why the proposed EU restriction on PFAS chemicals, which can also be found in single-use food packaging, is now more important than ever. Click here for a comment from the Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL).
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Webinar highlights new study on improved safety testing for Food Contact Materials
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During a recent webinar hosted by the EDC Strategies Partnership, a series co-organised by HEAL, Dr Jane Muncke, Managing Director at the Food Packaging Forum, discussed a new study, 'A vision for safer food contact materials: Public health concerns as drivers for improved testing'.
She emphasised the need for revising the food contact material regulation in Europe and presented a novel approach for assessing the health impacts of chemicals, which is in line with the goals laid out in the EU’s Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability and Farm to Fork Strategy.
Watch the webinar here.
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This newsletter is produced by a collaboration between CHEM Trust, the Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) and Zero Waste Europe (ZWE). Together, we are working towards creating a toxic-free environment where nobody should have to worry about the presence of health-harming chemicals in the products that come into contact with our food.
CHEM Trust is a charity based in Germany and the UK, with the overarching aim to prevent synthetic chemicals from causing long term damage to wildlife or humans, by ensuring that chemicals which cause such harm are substituted with safer alternatives. (EU Transparency number: 27053044762-72)
The Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) is the leading not-for-profit organisation addressing how the environment affects human health in the European Union (EU) and beyond. HEAL works to shape laws and policies that promote planetary and human health and protect those most affected by pollution, and raise awareness on the benefits of environmental action for health. (EU Transparency number: 00723343929-96)
Zero Waste Europe (ZWE) is the European network of communities, local leaders, experts, and change agents working towards the elimination of waste in our society. ZWE advocates for sustainable systems and the redesign of our relationship with resources, to accelerate a just transition towards zero waste for the benefit of people and the planet. (EU Transparency number: 47806848200-34)
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