The Regulation on the transparency and sustainability of European Union (EU) risk assessment in the food chain has been adopted by the European Parliament and the Council and is awaiting publication in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU). The intent of the new Regulation is to increase the transparency of risk assessments in the food chain in the EU and to strengthen the reliability, objectivity, and independence of the studies used by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
The Single-Use Plastics Directive — Directive (EU) 2019/904 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment—was published in the Official Journal of the European Union (click here to view).
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published Guidance on the use of the Threshold of Toxicological Concern (TTC) approach in food safety assessment. This approach can be used when there is limited chemical-specific toxicity data available but where the chemical structure of the substance is known and where exposure can be estimated. EFSA’s guidance provides step-by-step instructions on how to use the TTC approach.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued two publications in May as part of its Series on the Safety of Manufactured Nanomaterials, noting that risk assessment of nanomaterials can be challenging due to the difference in their physico-chemical properties as compared to non-nanomaterials. Consequently, these publications are intended to assist in the identification of useful parameters for analyzing nanomaterials, as well as the selection of best available methods for gathering relevant physico-chemical information on specific nanomaterials.
Does the recent French ban on titanium dioxide as a food additive, in Article 53 of the LOI n° 2018-938 of 30 October 2018, include the use of...
The European Council adopted the Single-Use Plastics Directive on May 21, 2019. The Directive will impact plastic food-contact articles through several initiatives, including bans on certain single-use plastics, increased collection goals, measures to reduce the consumption of plastic food containers, and extended producer responsibility requirements. (For background information, see the PackagingLaw.com article, EU Publishes Updated Draft of Single-Use Plastics Directive.)
The European Commission (EC) has published a Recommendation on a coordinated control plan to determine the prevalence of certain substances migrating from food-contact materials (FCMs) into food. The Recommendation, (EU) 2019/794, was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on May 17, 2019.
European paper and board manufacturers have released an updated guidance document on how to meet safety standards for paper and board products used in food contact applications. Originally published in 2010 and updated in 2012, “Food Contact Guidelines for the Compliance of Paper and Board Materials and Articles,” provides a methodology for demonstrating the suitability of paper and board materials and articles for food contact applications under European Union (EU) and Member State legislation.