The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) is in the process of updating its food-contact recommendations. While BfR recommendations are not legally binding, they are widely respected by industry throughout the European Union.

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).

A regulation on the transparency and sustainability of European Union (EU) risk assessment in the food chain, the Transparency Regulation 2019/1381, will apply from March 27, 2021. This regulation introduces new rules for petitioning the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and amends the EU’s Framework Regulation (EC) No. 1935/2004.

Food Packaging Forum (FPF) launched a new food-contact chemical database that lists 12,285 chemicals that are potentially used in the manufacture of food-contact materials. The list was developed from 67 regulatory positive lists and industry inventories. The researchers, led by FPF, noted that toxicity data are available for 71% of the food-contact chemicals. They also identified 608 of the chemicals as possible high-priority candidates for substitution in food-contact materials.

China notified the WTO concerning a National Standard on Inks used in Food Contact Materials and Articles on November 5, 2020.

The European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes and Processing Aids (CEP) published an assessment  of the impact of IARC Monograph Vol. 121 on the safety of styrene for use in plastic food contact materials (FCMs). In September 2019, IARC updated its evaluation of styrene to classify the substance as “probably carcinogenic to humans” (Group 2A).

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Standardization Organization (GSO) has requested comments on a Draft Standard on Polyethylene Bags For Food Packaging Applications, GSO 1193/2020, that will replace GSO 1194/2002, “Methods of Testing Polyethylene Bags for Food Packaging Applications.”

I understand that the inclusion of an aluminum foil layer in laminate materials is considered by FDA to be a functional barrier. Should the...

A novel data analysis was used to show a non-monotonic dose relationship between exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) and mammary gland development. The study, which was part of the Consortium Linking Academic and Regulatory Insights on BPA Toxicity (CLARITY-BPA) project, was conducted by researchers from Tufts University and National Toxicology Program (NTP) laboratory.