The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has issued a scientific opinion on dietary exposure to mineral oil hydrocarbons (MOH) found mainly in “food packaging materials, food additives, processing aids, and environmental contaminants such as lubricants.” According to a June 6, 2012, press release, EFSA’s Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain (CONTAM) focused on two types of MOH: (i) aromatic hydrocarbons identified as potentially genotoxic and carcinogenic; and (ii) saturated hydrocarbons that “can accumulate in human tissue and may cause adverse effects in the liver.” The CONTAM Panel apparently found low levels of saturated MOH in all of the food groups tested, “with some high levels found in ‘Bread and rolls’ and ‘Grains for human consumption’ due to their use, respectively, as release/ non-sticking agents and spraying agents (used to make grains shiny).” It also reported the presence of both saturated and aromatic MOH in dry foods such as “‘pudding’…
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California EPA’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has extended until April 6, 2012, the public comment period for several chemicals, including benzophenone, a substance used in plastic packaging as a UV blocker, that the agency is considering adding to the list of chemicals known to the state to cause cancer (Prop. 65) under the Labor Code mechanism. An interested party apparently requested the extension. Because these are “ministerial listings,” OEHHA has indicated that comments should be limited “to whether the International Agency for Research on Cancer has identified the specific chemical or substance as a known or potential human or animal carcinogen.”
California EPA’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has extended the comment period for several chemicals, including benzophenone, a chemical used in plastic packaging as a UV blocker, that the agency is considering adding to the list of chemicals known to the state to cause cancer (Prop. 65) under the Labor Code mechanism. Public comments are now requested by March 22, 2012. According to OEHHA, “[b]ecause these are ministerial listings, comments should be limited to whether the International Agency for Research on Cancer has identified the specific chemical or substance as a known or potential human or animal carcinogen.”
The European General Court (ECG) has determined that the European Commission (EC) erred in removing the antibacterial chemical 2,4,4’-tricihloro2’-hydroxydiphenyl ether (triclosan) from the list of additives that may be used to make plastic materials and other articles that come into contact with foods. Microban Int’l Ltd. v. EC, No. T-262 (ECG, decided October 25, 2011). The court first determined that the EC’s action constituted a regulatory act of direct concern to the applicants, companies that make the additive. The court then ruled both that the EC based its decision on the wrong law and failed to follow the correct procedures in removing triclosan from the list. The court noted that the chemical was previously included on the provisional list of additives which can continue to be used subject to national law on the basis of a European Food Safety Authority determination in 2004 that “although triclosan was a substance for which an…
A federal court in Illinois has reportedly dismissed on standing grounds the pro se claims of an individual plaintiff who alleged that the food packaging materials used by McDonald’s Corp., when discarded by consumers, pose a threat to the environment. Gencarelli v. McDonald’s Corp., No. 11-5573 (N.D. Ill., decided August 19, 2011). The plaintiff filed his complaint under the Safe Drinking Water Act, Toxic Substances Control Act and National Environmental Policy Act. According to the court, he lacked standing to sue because he alleged “a generalized grievance” only. To establish standing, the plaintiff was required to show a “concrete injury in fact, causation, and redressability,” which the court apparently found he failed to do. See BNA Daily Environment Report, August 24, 2011.
If a D.C. federal court agrees to the unopposed litigation schedule filed in late July by the Styrene Information and Research Center, a decision about whether the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) properly added styrene to its list of possible carcinogens could be reached early in 2012. Styrene Info. & Research Ctr., Inc. v. Sebelius, No. __ (D.D.C., filed June 10, 2011). The industry trade group contends that the HHS National Toxicology Program (NTP) process that concluded with a determination to add the substance, which is used in plastic and foam food service packaging, to the 12th Annual Report on Carcinogens (RoC) was flawed, arbitrary and capricious, an abuse of discretion, and not in accordance with the law. The center seeks the removal of styrene from the RoC. In its complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief, the center alleges that NTP’s scientific advisory panel members ignored studies showing…
A recent study led by the Breast Cancer Fund and Silent Spring Institute reportedly concluded that both bisphenol A (BPA) and bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) exposures “were substantially reduced when participants’ diets were restricted to food with limited packaging.” Ruthann Rudel, et al., “Food Packaging and Bisphenol A and Bis(2-ethylhexyl) Phthalate Exposure: Findings from a Dietary Intervention,” Environmental Health Perspectives, March 30, 2011. Researchers selected “20 participants in five families based on self-reported use of canned and packaged foods,” and then directed these subjects to eat “their usual diet, followed by three days of ‘fresh foods’ not canned or packaged in plastic,” before returning to their customary habits. The results of urinary samples taken over the eight-day experiment reportedly demonstrated a significant decrease in BPA and DEHP metabolites during the fresh foods intervention. According to the Silent Spring Institute, these findings allegedly “show that food packaging is the major source of…
Kellogg Co. has filed a lawsuit in a Michigan federal court against the Canadian packaging company that supplied allegedly defective liners with “offensive characteristics” (taste and odor) that purportedly caused nausea and diarrhea in some Kellogg cereal consumers and forced a “costly nationwide recall” of four company products. Kellogg Co. v. FPC Flexible Packaging Corp., No. 11-272 (W.D. Mich., S. Div., filed March 18, 2011). The cereal maker alleges violations of Michigan’s Uniform Commercial Code, breach of contract and express and implied indemnification. Alleging damages in excess of $75,000, Kellogg also seeks a declaratory judgment that it is not liable for payment of $3.3 million in materials still in the packaging company’s possession or for the $1.04 million in defective liners provided to Kellogg. According to the complaint, the packaging company has demanded payment for the liners and the materials used in their production.
Individual members of the U.K. Food and Drink Federation (FDF) have reportedly announced plans to reconfigure their packaging after recent studies showed mineral oils from recycled cardboard leaching into food items. According to a March 8, 2011, BBC News article, which cited government researchers in Switzerland, the chemicals are used in printing inks “and have been linked to inflammation of internal organs and cancers.” At least one study evidently demonstrated that mineral oils could pass “easily” through many of the inner linings used in recycled cardboard boxes, with only 30 out of 119 sampled products deemed free of mineral oil. “For the others they all exceeded the limit, and most exceeded it more than 10 times, and we calculated that in the long run they would probably exceed the limit 50 times on average and many will exceed it several hundred times,” one researcher was quoted as saying. As a…
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a final rule amending its regulations “for thermally-processed low-acid foods packaged in hermetically sealed containers to allow other temperature-indicating devices, in addition to mercury-in-glass thermometers, during processing.” The final rule follows from a March 14, 2007, proposal covered in Issue 207 of this Update. Effective March 5, 2012, the new regulation also “establishes recordkeeping requirements” for alternative temperature-indicating devices, “allows for the use of advanced technology for measuring and recording temperatures,” and “includes metric equivalents of avoirdupois (U.S.) measurements where appropriate.” In addition, it permits low-acid canned food processors “to transition from mercury-in-glass thermometers to alternative temperature-indicating devices,” which will “eliminate concerns about potential contamination of the food or the processing environment from broken mercury-in-glass thermometers.” See The Federal Register, March 3, 2011.
