Food legislation and food safety – May 2025
Food Contact Materials (FCMs) – rules and regulations
EU: Keller and Heckman reports that the EC is working on a proposed Recommendation for monitoring the presence of bisphenol A (BPA), bisphenol S (BPS), and other bisphenols in food with follow-up investigations to identify the source of their unintentional presence. It would cover all types of food, but notably focus on foods packed in FCMs from recycled materials including paper and paperboard.
The EC has published its 2024 annual report (2.67 MB) on the Alert and Cooperation Network (ACN) for the agri-food chain. 193 of the 9460 notifications concerned FCMs.
UK: FSA and FSS are advising businesses not to use ocean bound plastic in food packaging. The advice is based on an assessment by the Joint Expert Group for Food Contact Materials (FCMJEG) on the use of ocean bound plastics in FCMs.
Claims, marking and labelling – rules and regulations
EU: The EP has published a briefing (1.23 MB) on alcohol labelling. In the absence of EU-wide harmonised rules, France, Germany, Ireland and Lithuania have implemented legislation on health information. In 2019, the representatives of the spirits industry committed to including the energy value on the label and providing a list of ingredients and full nutritional values by digital means. In March 2025, the EC proposed to harmonise some labelling requirements.
NL: On behalf of a broad coalition from the fields of science, food production, food service and retail, Schuttelaar & Partners (in Dutch) has submitted (in Dutch) a petition to the Dutch House to strengthen Nutri-Score as a tool for better food choices. The coalition wants more public information, a platform for practical experiences and mandatory implementation throughout the EU. The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) is calling on companies in the food sector to check their sustainability claims, and adjust them where necessary. ACM sees claims about environmental aspects, but also about working conditions or animal welfare. It is not always clear what these claims actually entail or what the logos stand for even though that is required. CLO (in Dutch) reports that the market share of food with a sustainability label (such as the Better life label) was 19% in 2023. In 2009, this was only 3%. The Children's Marketing Monitor for Food Products 2024 (in Dutch, 3.87 MB) has been sent (in Dutch) to the Dutch House. Chapter 7 addresses characters on packaging. Despite the ban on the use of licensed characters, twenty products featuring characters such as Paw Patrol and Pokémon were found in 2024.
US: The FDA has extended the comment period for the proposed rule on a front-of-package nutrition labelling scheme until 15 July 2025.
Food Contact Materials (FCMs) – research on migration
In a review (22.42 MB) published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances, researchers at Chitkara University explore microplastics in food packaging, emphasising their potential migration into the packaged food.
A review study led by FPF, outlines the health impacts of exposure to food contact chemicals (FCCs) from packaging and processing, emphasising the link between FCCs and ultra-processed foods. The study (abstract) is published in Nature Medicine.
A new generation of plant-based foods offers an alternative to animal products. But scientists from UAntwerp have discovered that these often ultra-processed substitutes may contain higher amounts of certain harmful substances. The study (6.36 MB) is published in Environmental Science & Technology.
FPF reports that Öko Test (in German) has found BPA and BPS in nine and eight out of ten pizza boxes tested. Migration of BPA into the pizza was observed in four out of nine cases, while BPS migrated in all eight tested samples.
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