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 European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has proposed lowering the tolerable daily intake (TDI) of bisphenol A (BPA) from 4 micrograms per kilogram of body weight (µg/kg BW) per day to 0.04 nanograms per kilogram of body weight per day based on a re-evaluation of the substance. The re-evaluation was conducted by EFSA’s expert Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes and Processing Aide (CEP) and the conclusions were explained in a draft scientific opinion, which was published on December 15, 2021.

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.

The Washington State Department of Ecology (DoE) has requested comments on its draft report for phase three of the Safer Products for Washington program.

Minnesota has recently enacted a law that bans per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in food packaging, and Maine has passed a law that is being touted as the broadest state ban on PFAS in consumer products.

The Biden Administration announced accelerated efforts to regulate per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) on October 18, 2021. The plan involves a government-wide approach with multiple agencies taking steps to prevent PFAS contamination and to remediate the impact of PFAS. 

Keller and Heckman Partner Hazel O’Keeffe will present, “Legislative aspects: food contact and recycled material,” followed by Associate Ales Bartl who will present, “Legislative aspects: REACH and recycled material,” at the International Seminar on Plastics Recycling, taking place in Valencia, Spain on December 1-2, 2021. The seminar will focus on the challenges of recycling plastic waste when implementing a circular economy that aims to create more sustainable solutions.

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 1200, known as the California Safer Food Packaging Cookware Act of 2021, on October 5, 2021. The bill bans the use of perfluorinated and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) in food packaging composed in substantial part of paper, paperboard, or other materials derived from plant fibers. It also requires warning labels on cookware to which PFAS was intentionally added.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) testing continues to show that the majority of foods do not contain detectable levels of 16 different types of per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Testing results released by the agency on August 26, 2021, showed that 164 of 167 foods tested had no detectable levels of any of the 16 PFAS measured. The three food samples that had detectable levels were: fish sticks, canned tuna, and protein powder. The test results were from FDA’s first survey of nationally distributed processed foods collected for the Total Diet Study (TDS).