The debate on the regulation of chemicals in Food Contact Materials – such as packaging – is starting to heat up, with a new study from the European Parliament’s Research Service (EPRS) echoing many of the criticisms that CHEM Trust made in our briefing on the subject. In addition, the MEP acting as a rapporteur on the European [...]
Food
New research, published today finds that people in the US who eat more fast food have higher levels of certain phthalate chemicals in their urine. The chemicals found, DEHP and DINP, are used as plasticisers in PVC plastics, and their use is partially restricted in Europe due to health concerns; they are also hormone (endocrine) disrupters. [...]
Food packaging, factory equipment, food utensils – almost everything we eat has been in contact with one or more of these items. The EU’s laws should ensure that chemicals used in these materials are safe, but they do not go far enough and contain holes. These holes – for example a lack of harmonised rules [...]
Our oceans and seas have been polluted over time with a number of contaminants, from litter and plastic waste to an array of man-made chemicals which have caused numerous problems for many wildlife species. So considering these pollutants, how safe is the fish, shellfish and other seafood we eat? Globally over 1 billion people rely on [...]
The European Commission recently published a ‘road map’ proposing options for increasing controls on the use of hormone disrupting chemical bisphenol A (BPA) in food contact materials. CHEM Trust has been concerned about the health and environmental impacts of BPA for many years, and in our view, it should be phased out of all food contact applications. However, as [...]
Our food comes into contact with a whole range of food contact materials made from industrial chemicals, from food packaging to pipes. The EU has laws that are supposed to regulate the safety of these chemicals, but they are full of gaps and largely ignore some key issues. A number of events in recent weeks [...]
Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) have been used in some of our favourite products including waterproof clothing and non stick pans, but their persistence means they’re found all over the globe, in wildlife and in our blood and other tissues. As the amount of research showing the harmful effects of these widely used chemicals grows, many of them are [...]
A year ago we wrote about new research which found that hazardous chemicals are used in food packaging, and that chemicals in many food packaging materials are not properly regulated by the EU. We sent a letter to the then EU Health Commissioner Tonio Borg, and the reply from his office said that the Commission’s Joint Research [...]
The EU commission has claimed that there will be no lowering of food safety standards in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) that is currently being negotiated with the United States. However, an examination of the EU’s negotiating position shows that they are already offering changes which could lead to increased amounts of pesticide residues [...]
The European Commissions DG Santé (Health) has now replied to a letter we sent to Commissioner Andriukaitis on 25th February, challenging the way in which the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) had communicated the results of an expert panel’s assessment of the safety of Bisphenol A (BPA). We are all exposed to BPA through its use in food can [...]
