Interview with Nestlé on recent food contact regulatory changes

Ahead of his presentation at Global Food Contact on 21 May, we spoke to Martin Kreutzer, Corporate Regulatory and Scientific Affairs Manager at Nestlé, to get his expert view of recent food contact regulation updates, how these can affect supply chain transparency, and more. 

Martin, your presentation covers the evolving landscape of food contact regulation. How do you see the new wave of regulations, such as those addressing PFAS and BPA, reshaping the industry? 

We see the following three impactful trends: 

• First, regulation is moving beyond a substance‑by‑substance approach toward broader class‑based restrictions, aiming to prevent regrettable substitution.
• Second, expectations around compliance documentation are rising, with much greater emphasis on Declarations of Compliance and supporting evidence. This requires structured information to flow more efficiently throughout the value chain. 
• Third, food contact regulation is expanding from pure safety considerations to also include sustainability and recyclability aspects, requiring companies to balance food safety, environmental objectives, and circularity from the design stage onwards.

You have significant experience in both food safety and regulatory compliance. From your perspective, how are global regulatory changes like these affecting supply chain transparency, and what role do companies need to play in this process? 

Global regulatory changes are driving a need for much deeper supply‑chain transparency than in the past. One key driver of complexity is the unharmonized regulations across regions. At the same time, there`s significant public attention on certain packaging related substances of concern. As a result, companies need to be able to conduct risk and exposure assessments, which requires substance information to flow efficiently across the supply chain and be managed through advanced digital tools. 

You’ve worked in both R&D and packaging compliance. How do these areas intersect when it comes to chemical contaminants in food packaging, and what innovations are emerging to address these risks more effectively? 

Regulatory expectations around PFAS, BPA, and other substances of concern increasingly drive material choices to ensure compliance by design. This requires a constant monitoring of globally emerging regulatory frameworks. Recently, many digital service providers started incorporating AI-based agents to enable tracking and impact assessment of emerging regulations. Other examples are untargeted analytical testing (e.g. NIAS-screenings) and new approach methodologies (NAMs), which, if well combined, will allow companies to conduct risk assessments on an unparalleled speed and accuracy. As a company, incorporating these digital innovations into an effective compliance process will be key for continuous success. 

We’re excited to hear your insights at the event in May. What aspect of engaging with the industry are you most looking forward to? 

What I value most at events like this is the open exchange between different parts of the value chain — brand owners, material suppliers, converters, and regulators. Everyone is facing similar challenges, but often from very different angles. 

I’m particularly looking forward to constructive discussions around sharing data and information across supply chain, key challenges around emerging regulations and, last but not least, how we as industry can be more efficient to push for harmonized, proportionate regulations which incentivize innovation towards safe and sustainable food contact materials.