The Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) website, updated as of December 29, 2022, now states that packaging for a product subject to the State’s PFAS notification and reporting requirement “is not required to be reported.” Notifications under this law (Public Law c.

The California Carcinogen Identification Committee (CIC) rejected the listing of bisphenol A (BPA) as a carcinogen under Proposition 65 (Prop 65) at its December 14, 2022, meeting. (More information on that meeting can be found here.)

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently added three new substances to its Inventory of Effective Food Contact Substances (FCS) Notifications. The newly listed substances and the manufacturers are listed below.

Update: The formal Federal Register notice was published on December 20, 2022, and comments are due on February 21, 2023.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed adding per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) subject to reporting under Section 313 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (also known as the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Program) and the Pollution Prevention Act (PPA) to the list of Lower Thresholds for Chemicals of Special Concern. The addition of PFAS to this list would eliminate the use of the de minimis exemption. 

Is there guidance on what information must be in a Food Master File?

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection (MDEP) has updated its Frequently Asked Questions webpage to clarify the state’s position that food packaging is not exempt from the PFAS reporting requirement under Public Law c. 477, An Act To Stop Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances Pollution.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a report critiquing the premarket authorization programs handled by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Addressing the crowd at Keller and Heckman’s 23rd Annual Food Packaging Law Seminar, Dr. Sharon Koh-Fallet, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Branch Chief of the Regulatory Review Branch in the Division of Food Contact Substances (DFCS), reminded attendees that all FDA authorizations and exemptions from authorization are based on a substance’s intended use. Dr.