Food Packaging Forum

Unpacking key updates and highlights from across the field this month 👇 👉 We’re launching the FCCgroup app. Join us for our webinar on September 7th to learn more! 👉 Join us in New York for the 2026 Plastics and Human Health Symposium! 👉 New database compiles chemical disclosures from over 200 cookware brands 👉 US government proposes mandatory GRAS notification, advances definition of ultra-processed foods 👉 Chemical recycling of plastics is not cost effective, a JRC report finds 👉 … and more! Subscribe to get notified when the next issue of our newsletter drops! ⬇️

Current food contact material regulations do not sufficiently protect consumers’ health because 87% of chemicals lack the data needed to consider the wide range of health impacts that can occur. So, we created a data-based approach and a new free tool to help address this. Our new FCCgroup app is a systematic and transparent way to organize chemicals into  groups based on structural similarity to avoid regrettable substitutions. ❓ Why group chemicals together? Until these thousands of food contact chemicals can be properly tested and the missing data are made available, a grouping approach can efficiently prioritize potentially hazardous chemicals and better protect consumers sooner. ❓ What does the new FCCgroup app do? FCCgroup lets users check any set of chemicals to: 1️⃣ identify which are used or present in food contact materials,  2️⃣ find any known hazards, and  3️⃣ assign them into groups using structure-based pattern matching. Want to learn more and see a demo? Register to join our webinar on Monday September 7, 2026, at 4 pm CEST (10am EDT) where our scientists will introduce the new app, explain the science behind it, and answer your questions. ➡️ Registration and more information: https://lnkd.in/e9eGpuM2

Europe’s new regulation on packaging just came into force. What does this mean for your health? On August 12, multiple provisions of the European Union’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) or Regulation (EU) 2025/40 came into force. 🥡 For food packaging safety, some of the most significant changes are the new concentration limits for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). This includes PFAS-based polymers like polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). ⚠️ PFAS are very persist in the environment, and their widespread use over the past decades has led to global contamination of water, soil, wildlife, and people. ⚠️ Several PFAS are known to accumulate in the body and have been linked to a range of health concerns, including effects on the immune system and reproductive health. ❌ As of August 12, 2026, food packaging cannot be placed on the EU market if it contains PFAS at or above: ➜ 25 parts per billion (ppb) for any individual PFAS measured using targeted analysis, excluding polymeric PFAS;  ➜ 250 ppb for the sum of PFAS measured using targeted analysis, excluding polymeric PFAS; or  ➜ 50 parts per million (ppm) for total PFAS, including polymeric PFAS Packaging manufactured before August 12, 2026, but first placed on the EU market afterwards must comply with the new limits. Packaging already placed on the market before August 12 may remain. Beyond the new PFAS restrictions, there are other notable measures in the PPWR scheduled to apply later, including: 👉 Requirements for takeaway businesses to accept consumers’ own containers from February 2027 👉 Compostability requirements for selected packaging from February 2028 👉 Harmonized sorting labels from August 2028 or later 👉 Packaging minimization, recycled content, reuse target, and certain packaging-format restrictions from 2030 👉 Detailed design-for-recycling criteria and recyclability grades not until 2030 or 24 months after the relevant delegated acts enter into force, whichever is later 👉 Recycled-at-scale requirements from 2035 or later ❓ What are your thoughts on PPWR? Let us know in the comments. ➡️ Check out our summary of the PPWR: https://lnkd.in/e2Jf4_Fm ➡️ Read the full legal text of the new regulation: https://lnkd.in/dckkzsi8

🔍 Does your frying pan contain PFAS, a.k.a. “forever chemicals”? A new database can help you find out. PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are a large group of chemicals that have been used since the 1950s because of their non-stick, oil-repellent, and heat-resistant properties. ❗ Because their chemical structures have many strong carbon-fluorine bonds, PFAS are typically very resistant to degradation and can persist in the environment for extremely long periods of time (some forever). Their widespread use has led to global contamination of water, soil, wildlife, and people. ⚠️ Several PFAS are known to accumulate in the body and have been linked to a range of health concerns, including effects on the immune system and reproductive health. 🌍 Scientists believe that PFAS pollution represents a planetary scale threat, meaning that reversing contamination may be difficult or impossible. One well-known PFAS-based polymer is polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), better known by the trade name Teflon®, which is commonly used as a non-stick coating on cookware. ⚠️ Evidence since the 1950s has shown that at elevated temperatures (>300°C), PTFE-coated pans can release fumes that are acutely toxic to birds and can cause flu-like symptoms in humans, a condition referred to as “polymer fume fever.” Concerns have also been raised about PFAS releases during PTFE production and disposal. 🍳 So, how do you know whether your frying pan contains PTFE? A new resource from Defend Our Health provides a searchable directory of more than 200 cookware brands on the US market and whether they publicly disclose the intentional use of PFAS in their products. It is based on information made available under California's cookware disclosure requirements. Explore the brands: https://lnkd.in/gcYTUNGP ❓ What’s your trick for keeping food from sticking to the pan? Any favorite PFAS-free alternatives? Let us know in the comments! ➡️ Check out our background article on PFAS: https://lnkd.in/ecggZBfj ➡️ Learn more about why scientists consider PFAS a planetary threat: https://lnkd.in/eCmNnA9M ➡️ Read about the toxicity of overheated PTFE frying pans: https://lnkd.in/eTFimpAH & https://lnkd.in/ejshsjeX 

❌ Myth: All chemicals in food packaging have been thoroughly tested for their effects on human health. ✅ Reality: Of the 15,159 known food contact chemicals (FCCs), 12,317 (81%) currently lack relevant information checking for possible hazards. In addition, there are at least 1,222 FCCs that are known to be hazardous and are still being used in food packaging. More than 300 of those have been found to transfer from the packaging into our food. Here are some of the problems with current government mandated testing approaches: 👉 Only testing single substances. In reality, chemicals often transfer into our food from these materials in mixtures and not as single chemicals. These chemical mixtures can have different, sometimes worse, health impacts than an individual chemical alone. 👉 Primarily checking for damage to DNA (known as genotoxicity).   This fails to consider many other types of human health impacts that chemicals can contribute to (even at very low exposure levels). This includes cardiovascular diseases, metabolic diseases, and brain related disorders. 👉 Only testing intentionally added substances. Many more chemicals can transfer into food from FCMs as non-intentionally added substances (NIAS). Some experts estimated there might be up to 100,000 of these NIAS, and most of them are entirely unknown and therefore untested for their potential impacts on our health. ➡️ In 2023 we published a peer-reviewed article proposing a way forward towards better testing and safer food contact materials: https://lnkd.in/dY_XZ9Ka

Antimony (Sb) is a chemical element that can be present in food packaging and foodware. Most notably it is used intentionally as a catalyst in the production of PET plastic, but it can also be found in crystalware, ceramics, and metal. Evidence suggests it is linked to diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and heart failure. Antimony has been shown to migrate from packaging into food. If stored at high temperatures or if the food is acidic, this migration can exceed safe limits set by the WHO and EU. Based on the available evidence, antimony migration is highest in plastic food contact materials, followed by ceramics, porcelain, earthenware, and crystalware. Scientists examining the data found that food packaging and foodware “are a potentially significant source of Sb exposure” for consumers, and to protect our health they explain that “current migration data support prioritizing use of glassware and metal containers over PET plastics.” ➡️ Peer-reviewed article looking into antimony in food contact materials: https://lnkd.in/ekJTZmA8 

Want to know which chemicals have been found in different types of food packaging and foodware? How about which chemicals are most important to phase out to better protect public health? One of our biggest efforts is making the available scientific evidence on chemicals in food packaging and foodware more easily accessible through our free databases. These are valuable resources for anyone working on food packaging and health 👇 👉 The Food Contact Chemicals Database (FCCdb) maps the thousands of intentionally added food contact chemicals (FCCs) used to make food packaging and foodware, including hazard and regulatory information where available. https://lnkd.in/eCTKSCps 👉 The Database on Migrating and Extractable Food Contact Chemicals (FCCmigex) maps the scientific evidence of chemicals that have been found in or to transfer from food packaging and foodware. https://lnkd.in/eFiYeKQ5 👉 The Database on Food Contact Chemicals Monitored in Humans (FCChumon) includes the many FCCs that have been found in humans, including in urine, blood, and breast milk. https://lnkd.in/dXGbHjMF 👉 The Food Contact Chemicals Priority (FCCprio) List identifies and prioritizes FCCs to phase-out and avoid based on their known hazards and potential to expose consumers. https://lnkd.in/dCiret3p 👉 The Database of Micro- and Nanoplastics from Food Contact Materials (FCMiNo) shows where micro- and nanoplastics have been found in food that has been in contact with all types of plastic food packaging and foodware.  https://lnkd.in/epdfQjAm Are you using our databases? We would love to know how you are using them and what could make them better – let us know in the comments below!

Unpacking key updates and highlights from across the field this month 👇 👉 Looking for something worthwhile to watch? We have a recommendation. ‘Infertile’ is a new documentary about the linkage between infertility and hazardous chemicals. 👉 Join us in New York for the 2026 Plastics and Human Health Symposium! 👉 EU bisphenol A ban reaches main transition deadline 👉 ECHA committee recommends stricter hazard classification of forever chemical TFA 👉 … and more! Subscribe to get notified when the next issue of our newsletter drops! ⬇️

🧪👶How can we better protect children from known neurotoxic plastic chemicals and microplastics? The scientists at Project TENDR have some ideas in a new publication. 🧑🔬Project TENDR is an alliance of scientists, health professionals, and advocates focusing on research and science communication related to chemical exposures and children's brain function for healthy learning, attention, and behavior. In its latest scientific publication, the project summarizes evidence of the impact of known hazardous chemical additives in plastics and of potential harm from microplastics themselves on children’s brains and bodies, which they argue “constitute a significant public health concern.” It calls for swift action to better protect children. 📖The authors call for policy solutions rather than placing the burden on individuals to limit their personal exposure. Specifically, the authors write that policymakers can: 👉Ban groups of problematic chemicals in food contact materials and other packaging, starting with neurotoxic chemical classes 👉Phase out polyvinyl chloride and polystyrene as they are made from known cancer-causing chemicals like vinyl chloride and styrene 👉Prevent plastic recycling and incineration techniques that cause pollution 👉Reduce the use of plastic and support the adoption of reuse and refill systems 👉Limit plastic production for unnecessary uses 👉Ban intentionally added micro- and nanoplastics in all products 👉Require full transparency of the chemicals used to manufacture plastics, including all chemicals present in the final product 👉Add microplastics to national biomonitoring programs 👉Finalize a strong, legally binding Global Treaty on Plastics Pollution and create enforceable provisions to reduce the production, use, and disposal of plastics and toxic chemicals in plastics ➡️ Learn more in their peer-reviewed article: https://lnkd.in/e6QrR2Uz

❓ Should we be concerned about silicone kitchenware? The scientific evidence says maybe so. While silicone is not made from fossil fuels like most conventional plastics, it still contains chemical additives to achieve desired material properties like flexibility and color. Our very own Dr. Birgit Geueke is featured in a TIME magazine article highlighting an important point: silicones have many useful properties, but “they are not inert at all.” This means they can more easily leach the chemicals they contain into food. Publicly available scientific evidence compiled in our FCCprio database shows that over 50 different known hazardous chemicals have been found to leach out of silicone foodware (especially at high temperatures🌡️) (Explore the data for yourself: https://lnkd.in/dCiret3p) ❗The most common detected chemicals are siloxanes, some of which are formally recognized in the EU as “substances of very high concern” because they do not degrade easily and can build up in the body over time. 👩🏻🔬BEUC - The European Consumer Organisation tested 44 commercially available silicone baking moulds and found that 23% released their chemical constituents in high or increasing amounts after repeated use. In addition, 82% of the moulds contained substances of concern, although generally at low levels. 👉Considering the data, silicone is therefore not necessarily a better alternative to plastic in the kitchen when it comes to chemical safety, especially for applications where high temperatures occur, such as baking moulds or spatulas. 💡 Studies suggest that the release of volatile compounds from silicone bakeware can be reduced through proper curing. Products that have undergone adequate post-curing during manufacturing generally show lower migration levels than poorly cured products. Some experts also recommend heating new silicone bakeware at home before first use. ➡️Check out the TIME’s article featuring Birgit: https://lnkd.in/eYTRaE_i ➡️Read the BEUC report on chemicals migrating from silicone bakeware: https://lnkd.in/e3RyWuaY ➡️ Visit our site to learn more about silicone as a food contact material: https://lnkd.in/dRGK8xx4