On January 23, 2024, the European Commission adopted new minimum hygiene standards for materials and products that come into contact with drinking water. The new standards will apply to materials and products intended to be used in new installations for the abstraction, treatment, storage, or distribution of water or for repair works, such as supply pipes, valves, pumps, water meters, fittings, and taps.
Minnesota’s ban on intentionally added per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in food packaging becomes effective on January 1, 2024. (See Minn. Stat. § 325F.075.) The ban was included in an omnibus environment, natural resources, and tourism bill that was signed into law on June 29, 2021. We previously reported on the law here.
The European Commission (EC) has launched six consultations in relation to legislative proposals on materials in contact with drinking water. The legislative proposals, which are planned for adoption in the first quarter of 2024, and a brief description are listed below.
On November 6, 2023, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the full implementation of its updated Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) Online Submission Module (COSM). Updates to COSM allow stakeholders to send fully electronic regulatory submissions, including food-contact notifications (FCNs), directly to FDA’s Office of Food Additive Safety (OFAS), thereby eliminating the need to use FDA’s Electronic Submission Gateway (ESG).
The Scientific Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain (CONTAM Panel) of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) recently released an updated risk assessment of mineral oil hydrocarbons (MOH). The European Commission (EC) had requested the re-evaluation in 2020 as it considered whether to establish maximum levels for MOH in certain food items.
The European Commission (EC) has announced that it is working on a measure to further restrict the intentional use of bisphenol A (BPA) in food contact materials (FCMs). The EC hosted a webinar on July 18, 2023, to outline what may be included in forthcoming BPA legislation.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) lowered the tolerable daily intake (TDI) of bisphenol A (BPA) from 4 micrograms per kilogram body weight (µg/kg bw) per day to 0.2 nanograms (ng) per kilogram of body weight per day based on a re-evaluation of the substance. The re-evaluation of BPA was conducted by EFSA’s Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes and Processing Aids (CEP).