Minnesota’s ban on intentionally added per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in food packaging becomes effective on January 1, 2024. (See Minn. Stat. § 325F.075.) The ban was included in an omnibus environment, natural resources, and tourism bill that was signed into law on June 29, 2021. We previously reported on the law here.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently added six new substances to its Inventory of Effective Food Contact Substances (FCS) Notifications. The newly listed substances and the manufacturers are listed below.
Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) published the final version (in Japanese) of the reorganized positive list (PL) on November 30, 2023. This final version will take effect on June 1, 2025.
On December 1, 2023, National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China (NHC) approved one new food-contact additive, one new resin, and expanded usage for two food-contact materials. The substances and specifications are listed below.
Expanded Usage for Food-Contact Materials
On November 22, 2023, the European Parliament adopted a revised version of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) with 426 members of the European Parliament (MEPs) voting in favor, 125 against, and 74 abstaining. (See the Packaginglaw.com article, EU Proposal for a Regulation on Packaging and Packaging Waste – the Highlights, for background information on the regulation.)
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced several proposed changes to its Safer Choice Standard. Among the proposed changes are provisions to strengthen sustainable packaging requirements that the Agency explained were made in “response to consumer demand and innovations in packaging materials and technologies.” The proposed changes concerning primary packaging are listed below.
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.
On October 25th, the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act was reintroduced in both the Senate and the House of Representatives (H.R.6053 and S.3127). If enacted, the bill would create an extended producer responsibility (EPR) policy and establish source reduction targets for single-use plastic products and beverage containers.
On November 3, 2023, China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment (CFSA) solicited comments on one resin. The resin is Undecanoic acid, 11-amino-, homopolymer (CAS No. 25587-80-8), which is to be cleared for use in plastics. The specific migration level (SML) is 5 mg/kg for 11-amino undecanoic acid and the maximum use level is the necessary dosage. Plastic materials and articles containing this substance may not contact food with an alcohol content above 50%. In addition, the use temperature may not exceed 100°C. The time period for contacting food may not exceed one hour.
On November 6, 2023, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the full implementation of its updated Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) Online Submission Module (COSM). Updates to COSM allow stakeholders to send fully electronic regulatory submissions, including food-contact notifications (FCNs), directly to FDA’s Office of Food Additive Safety (OFAS), thereby eliminating the need to use FDA’s Electronic Submission Gateway (ESG).