LieAnn Van-Tull, an associate with the Food and Drug Packaging and Tobacco and E-Vapor practice groups at Keller and Heckman LLP, was sworn in as President-Elect of the Washington Bar Association, Inc. (WBA) on June 1, 2022, during its Annual Meeting and Conference at American University’s Washington College of Law. 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is in the process of revising the default factors the Agency recommends using to estimate exposure to food contact substances (FCSs) in Food Contact Notifications (FCNs), including consumption factors (CFs) and food type distribution factors (fTs). In a June 8, 2022 presentation before the PLASTICS Industry Association, Dr.

Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), along with Senators Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Warren (D-Mass.), introduced the “Ensuring Safe and Toxic-Free Foods Act of 2022” on May 26, 2022. S. 4316 would direct the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to make several changes to its 2016 Substances Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) rule and to establish a new division within FDA to reassess the safety of food additives and food contact substances.

Washington State’s Department of Ecology (DoE) published its Second Alternatives Assessment for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in food packaging on May 16, 2022, identifying five additional paper-based food-contact materials with safer alternatives to PFAS. Thus, as of May 2024, Washington’s ban on certain food packaging containing intentionally-added PFAS will expand to include:  

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) responded to two food additive petitions and a citizen petition related to the use of phthalates in food-contact applications on May 19, 2022. Specifically, FDA granted a Food Additive Petition (FAP) submitted by industry to remove the clearances for 26 ortho-phthalates due to abandonment. The FAP was filed on July 3, 2018, by the Flexible Vinyl Alliance (FVA).

Keller and Heckman is pleased to announce that our 23rd Annual Food Packaging Law Seminar will be held in person this year, taking place October 18 - 19, 2022, in Arlington, VA. We are also thrilled to announce our expanded Sustainability Workshop, taking place Thursday, October 20, 2022.

A California bill, SB-502, would allow the state’s Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) to rely on publicly available studies when evaluating chemicals of concern under consideration in a consumer product. Currently, California’s Green Chemistry Initiative requires a responsible entity (manufacturer, importer, assembler, or retailer) to conduct an alternatives analysis for the product to identify how environmental and public health impacts of the chemical may be limited.

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan signed HB0275 into law on April 21, 2022. The new law prohibits the use, sale, and manufacture of food packages to which perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are intentionally added, beginning on January 1, 2024. “Food package” is defined as packaging (a) designed and intended for direct food contact and (b) substantially composed of paper, paperboard, or other materials originally derived from plant fibers, including packaging components.

Keller and Heckman’s Japanese Relations Advisor Takashi (TK) Namba will be one of the speakers at the PLASTICS Industry Association’s 2022 Spring Food Packaging Conference, to be held June 7-9, 2022, in Baltimore, MD. The title of TK’s presentation is: “Japanese Positive List: Challenges While Japan Gets the Sustainability Push.” The program also will include presentations on microplastics, nitrosamines, and updates on international regulatory initiatives related to food packaging.