Food legislation and food safety – September 2021
Rules and regulations in the EU
BfR has published the 5th edition of the EU Food Safety Almanac (5.74 MB) in English. The book gives an overview of the food safety institutions in Europe. A recent EDQM publication provides methods for the determination of substances migrating from printing inks to food or food simulants. You can download the publication after filling in your details.
The EC has published the 2020 annual report (9.79 MB) of the EU Food Fraud Network. The most common non-compliance was mislabelling which accounted for 37% of the total of violations reported in the system. The EC has also published its 2020 annual report (4.12 MB) on the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF). As in previous years, only a small percentage of the notifications is related to FCMs (3%). Belgium: Research (in Dutch, 1.02 MB) by the FOD Economie (in Dutch) shows that just over half of the inspected batches complied with the requirements for quantity labelling of pre-packed foodstuffs. Italy: Draft regulations concerning the minimum percentage of virgin PET in recycled PET bottles have been sent to the EC.
Rules and regulations outside the EU
China: Keller and Heckman reports that the government is requesting comments on eleven FCMs. Japan: FPF reports that the Japanese government has published a revised version of its positive list of substances for use in FCMs. Peru: SGS reports that Peru has launched a public consultation on a proposal to ban BPA in varnishes and coatings that are used in FCMs for infants and young children. US: FPF reports that the FDA has added 13 entries to its Inventory of Effective Food Contact Substances (FCS) Notifications. The FDA has also released the results (245 kB) of the first survey of PFAS in nationally distributed processed foods: 164 of the 167 foods tested had no detectable levels of PFAS. Senator Jeff Irwin reports that legislation banning PFAS, BPA and phthalates from food packaging in Michigan has been introduced.
Research on packaging and food safety
In an article (2.24 MB) published in Environmental Science and Pollution Research, researchers from the Beijing Technology and Business University review recent advances on environment protection and food safety. In an article (1 MB) published in the International Journal of Food Science, Tribhuvan University researchers review current trends in food analysis, safety and packaging.
In an article (418 kB) published in Chemosphere, researchers from the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna report on BPA and alternatives to BPA in thermal paper receipts and their migration from reusable plastic bottles.
In an article (1.46 MB) published in Environmental Science and Technology, Goethe University researchers investigated the toxicological and chemical profiles leaching into water from 24 everyday plastic products covering eight polymer types.
Research on informing consumers
In a literature review (686 kB) on conveying information through food packaging published in the Journal of Functional Foods, Delft University of Technology researchers compare legislation with consumer perception.
In an review (805 kB) published in Food Quality and Preference, Universidad de la República researchers look at the role of food packaging on children's diets. The results suggest that comprehensive packaging regulations are necessary to protect children's health and encourage healthier eating habits from early years.
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