Food legislation and food safety – October 2021

02 November 2021

Food Contact Materials (FCMs) – rules and regulations
India: SGS reports that the government has issued a notification (1.22 MB) to amend the Food Safety and Standards (Packaging) Regulations 2018, expanding the number of food contact plastics with specific migration limits from seven to nine.
Ireland: The environmental charity VOICE is calling for an immediate ban on the manufacture or use PFAS in FCMs on the Irish market. In a study (4.37 MB) using chemical analysis, VOICE found PFAS in commonly available FCMs.
South Korea: FPF reports that the government has published its annual Ministry of Food and Drug Safety White Paper and updated standards and specifications (in Korean) for packaging clarifying that recycled PET is permitted to be used as the source material.
NL: NVWA (in Dutch) has published a new version of information sheet 85 (in Dutch), the 'Interpretation document NVWA concerning Regulation (EC) No 2073/2005 on microbiological criteria for foodstuffs'.
US: The Californian Government has announced the signing of bill AB 1200 prohibiting certain food packaging from containing intentionally added PFAS as of 1 January 2023.

FPF annual workshop on FCMs
On 6-8 October 2021 the Food Packaging Forum (FPF) held its 9th annual workshop under the theme “Different perspectives on food contact materials: Working together to make FCMs safer.” Summary articles and the slides and video recordings of most presentations are publicly available.

Deaths linked to exposure to phthalates
A new NYU Langone study shows that daily exposure to phthalates, which are used in the manufacture of plastic food containers and many cosmetics, may lead to roughly 100,000 premature deaths among older Americans each year. An article (abstract) about the research is published in Environmental Pollution.

Marking and labelling
EU: A survey (2.23 MB) by BEUC and ten members including the Dutch Consumentenbond (in Dutch) shows that industry self-regulation of marketing unhealthy food to children is not working.
UK: FSA reports that the new allergen labelling law, also known as Natasha’s Law, came into effect on 1 October 2021. The law requires businesses to label all food that is prepacked for direct sale with a full list of ingredients, with the 14 major allergens emphasised in the list.
A new systematic review and meta-analysis led by researchers from Action on Salt and Sugar based at Queen Mary University of London, supports the call for mandatory front-of-pack nutrition labels in directing consumers towards healthier options. The review (3.19 MB) is published in the PLOS Medicine Journal.
 

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