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

International regulatory law firm Keller and Heckman LLP augments Japanese client offerings with the addition of Takashi (TK) Namba, Advisor - Japanese Relations.

A January 10, 2022, letter from the House Oversight and Reform Committee requested information about the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) regulation of phthalates. The letter, written by Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), chairman of the Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, was addressed to acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock.

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) finalized the list of food packaging substances identified as chemicals of high concern (CHC) under the state’s Toxic Chemicals in Food Packaging law. The substances on the list are: 

The proposed Single-Use Plastics Prohibition Regulations were published in the Canada Gazette on December 25, 2021. The proposed regulations would prohibit the manufacture, import, and sale of six categories of single use plastics (SUPs): checkout bags, cutlery, foodservice ware made from or containing problematic plastics, ring carriers (typically known as six-pack rings), stir sticks, and straws. 

When listing ingredients on a jar of hair styling gel, if the gel is all natural, can you list some of the product’s ingredients as a proprietary...

On December 13, 2021, California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) issued a notice of modification to the proposed amendments limiting the availability of short-form warnings under Proposition 65.  The originally proposed amendments were issued on January 8, 2021, with the intention of limiting the options for providing a shortened version of the Proposition 65 warning on consumer and other products.

President Biden issued an executive order on clean energy and federal sustainability on December 8, 2021. The Section on Sustainable Acquisition and Procurement directs federal agencies to “…incentivize markets for sustainable products and services by prioritizing products that can be reused, refurbished, or recycled….” The executive order does not give specific examples.

Keller and Heckman Partner Rachida Semail presented at the Centre for Management Technology’s virtual conference on Recycled Packaging for Food Contact on December 2, 2021. Industry leaders and officials joined Rachida during the second annual conference to provide regulatory updates and discuss challenges related to recycled plastics within food packaging.