The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has launched a public consultation on a draft guidance document on the use of the Threshold of Toxicological Concern (TTC) approach in food safety assessment. This draft guidance, when finalized, will update a 2012 EFSA Scientific Opinion on exploring options for providing advice about possible human health risks based on the concept of TTC. 

The European Parliament (EP) adopted its position (i.e., amendments) on the proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment (Draft Single-Use Plastics Directive) on October 24, 2018. (A copy of the EP’s position can be found here.)

Treasury Chancellor Philip Hammond announced that the United Kingdom will introduce a new tax on the manufacture and import of plastic packaging that contains less than 30% recycled plastic during his recent Autumn Budget speech.

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has proposed to add 4,4'-isopropylidenediphenol (bisphenol A, BPA) and 2-ethylhexyl 10-ethyl-4,4-dioctyl-7-oxo-8-oxa-3,5-dithia-4-stannatetradecanoate (DOTE) along with 16 other substances to the REACH Authorization List (Annex XIV of the REACH Regulation). BPA and DOTE are currently authorized for use as a monomer and an additive, respectively, in the manufacture of plastic food-contact materials and articles in the European Union (subject to certain restrictions).

The German Federation of Food Law and Food Science’s (BLL) has introduced a “Toolbox for Preventing the Transfer of Undesired Mineral Oil Hydrocarbons into Food.” The toolbox aims to reduce preventable contamination with mineral oil as much as possible and to identify approaches that aim to reduce the amount of mineral oil contaminants in food.

The toolbox divides the routes of entry into three categories:

The European Commission (EC) asked the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in March 2018 to determine if the results of four recent studies on titanium dioxide (TiO2), including ones on TiO2 nanoparticles, warranted re-opening a June 2016 EFSA opinion related to the safety of TiO2 (E 171) as a food additive. In the 2016 opinion, EFSA concluded that titanium dioxide when used as a food additive does not raise a concern with respect to genotoxicity and that it is not carcinogenic after oral administration.

Keller and Heckman Partner Cynthia Lieberman will be one of the presenters at the Association of International Metallizers, Coaters and Laminators (AIMCAL) Roll 2 Roll Conference USA 2018. Her presentation, “U.S. and EU Regulation of Printing Inks,” will focus on developments in the U.S. and EU printing ink regulations that impact the flexible packaging industry.  Other presentations of interest to food packaging professionals include, “State of the Flexible Packaging Industry,” “Trends in Food and Packaging,” and ones on flexible packaging and sustainability.

Germany’s new packaging law, which becomes effective on January 1, 2019, is intended to both improve recycling and prevent packaging waste. Improved recycling rates of packaging will be accomplished through significant increases in recycling targets. For example, the recycling rate for plastic packaging will increase from the current 36% to 63% by 2022. The recycling quotas for metal, glass, and paper packaging materials will be increased to 90% by 2022.

The Association of Plastics Recyclers and Plastics Recycling Europe jointly developed a global definition for the term “recyclable” as it relates to plastic packaging and products.  The proposed definition aims to move beyond technical recyclability and establish criteria to uniformly ensure that a material identified as recyclable can actually be recycled in practice. 

The groups specified four conditions that a product must meet to be considered recyclable. These are:

The European Commission (EC) has launched a webpage on the evaluation of food contact materials (FCMs). By way of background, in November 2017, the EC published a roadmap to assess the EU’s approach to regulating food-contact materials. (See the PackagingLaw.com article, EC Publishes Roadmap to Evaluate Regulation of FCMs, for more information on the roadmap.)