Skip to main content

The European Commission (EC) published a recommendation on the monitoring of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in food in the Official Journal of the European Union on August 24, 2022.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on July 11, 2022, that it has filed a food additive petition proposing that the food additive regulations be amended to remove or restrict authorization for the use of bisphenol A (BPA) in food contact applications.

On June 30, 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released an updated list of draft and final guidance topics. These topics are a priority for the FDA Foods Program to complete during 2022.

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.

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.

The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) recommended that the State Water Resources Control Board (Water Board) establish a notification level (NL) for perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS) at 2 parts per trillion (PPT), or the lowest level at which it can be reliably detected in drinking water using currently available and appropriate technologies.

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.

The European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) Food Ingredients and Packaging (FIP) Unit launched consultations on a draft opinion and a draft protocol related to plasticizers in food-contact materials and articles. These consultations are in response to a request from the European Commission to conduct preparatory work for the re-evaluation of the risks to public health from the presence of plasticizers, such as phthalates, structurally similar substances, and replacement substances in FCMs. Only substances authorized for use in FCMs at the EU or national level were prioritized.