Global Food Contact 2020 | Agenda

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Professor Alejandro Ariosti will begin the session by presenting the Latin American blocks and addressing MERCOSUR. Detailed abstract coming soon!

Catherine Nielsen will discuss food contact regulations and updates pertaining to the Andean Community of Nations (CAN) and Chile. Detailed abstract coming soon!

Kevin C. Kenny will discuss food contact regulations and updates pertaining to Mexico, Central America (SICA), and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). Detailed abstract coming soon!

Japan currently has a negative system for food contact materials. This system identifies and regulates substances that are restricted in food contact materials. Under the negative list system, a food contact substance can only be regulated through specifications and standards issued by the government. In cases where there are no applicable requirements, this system essentially allows manufacturers to use substances that are not permitted in other jurisdictions in the food contact materials marketed in Japan. To address this potential safety risk, the Japanese authorities have been holding discussions on the possibility of introducing a positive list system, which would prohibit the use of substances that are not specifically permitted in Japan. This presentation will be focusing on the current state of these discussions and the most significant outcome of these discussions: the proposed positive lists of base polymers and additives.

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Kevin C. Kenny will discuss updates on food contact regulations in Southeast Asia. Detailed abstract coming soon.

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Confirmed Panelists Include:

Ron Osborn – Principal Scientist, Scientific & Regulatory Affairs, Americas R&D, Mars Wrigley

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Part of a circular economy is using recovered fiber as a raw material for new paperboard. A critical issue is the safety of the recycled paperboard product for food contact packaging. Over a period of more than twenty years, the Recycled Paperboard Technical Association (RPTA) has developed and improved risk-based methodologies, product testing, and manufacturing management systems to ensure the suitable purity of paperboard made with up to 100% recovered fiber. The Comprehensive Program is evergreen, taking into account changes in potential impurities, new toxicological study results, and FDA consumption factors and recommendations. RPTA performs all its work on behalf of its North American manufacturing company members, who totally fund the work. RPTA member mills are required to undergo third-party audits to demonstrate that they operate in compliance with the RPTA Comprehensive Program to remain members and receive a certificate of compliance.

Safe and functional packaging is a fundamental requirement throughout the value chain in order to ensure hygienic and efficient food distribution and minimize waste. Traceability of all raw materials is essential in ensuring product safety. The circular economy is driving the innovation of new materials that are guaranteed food-safe, recyclable, and derived from renewable resources. The paper and board industry is developing new solutions that take into account the increasingly strict global food safety regulations. One example is a non-plastic eco-barrier board that can be recycled alongside regular paper and paperboard. This new fluorochemical-free innovation provides a sustainable alternative to plastics in food and food service packaging and is a valuable weapon in the battle against food waste. Case studies will demonstrate the eco-barrier’s performance in various food end-uses and the role of fresh fiber paperboards in the circular economy.

When estimating migration levels of food contact substances (FCS) into food, FDA typically assumes that 1 square inch of single-use packaging material contacts 10 grams of food (1 in2/10 g), equivalent to a food-contact surface area-to-food mass ratio (SA/mF) of 6.45 dm2/kg. However, with the current trends toward consumer preference for convenience foods and technological advances in packaging materials, this value might not be representative of the SA/mF ratios for the wide range of packaged food currently consumed in the U.S. Therefore, we conducted a literature search for publications specifically reporting the SA and food mass for a variety of food and packaging scenarios. We identified publications, all from food and packaging collected in Europe and some results from our laboratories, that reported mF and SA values for various food and packaging scenarios. Using these values, we calculated SA/mF ratios for different food types. Here, we will describe an approach for calculating a weighted mean SA/mF ratio for all packaged food consumed in the U.S. using the SA/mF ratios and food intakes for all food and each food type.

Increasing regulatory requirements around the world affect the entire packaged food value chain. This creates challenges for food brands and players upstream who must grapple with conflicting interests such as transparency requirements, intellectual property protection, and liability risks. As a raw material supplier, Eastman has met these challenges with product and process innovations. We would like to illustrate our commitment to the packaged food industry, and the challenges it faces, with two examples of Eastman innovation.

• In Europe, we have developed approaches to work with the entire value chain to enable safe use of tackifier resins, which have been under significant scrutiny due to their oligomeric nature.
• In North America, California Proposition 65 requires manufacturers to label adhesives that contain trace chemicals, such as styrene. To address concerns surrounding trace chemicals, we are introducing a new tackifier family that does not require Proposition 65 labeling.