Additional Resouces
Below is a list of curated resources. They are selected based on their broad applicability , authoritative content, and key guidance regarding food contact.
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ESSENTIAL INFORMATION
Food Packaging Forum (FPF)
The FPF is a science communication organization that provides information on chemicals in all food packaging materials and their impacts on health. Among its many resources, see expert Dossiers on food contact materials and health, the Food Contact Chemical Database on more than 12,000 substances, and the Brand and Retailers Initiatives Database.
Food Packaging Product Stewardship Considerations
Developed by a brand-owners working group of the Food Safety Alliance for Packaging, a technical committee of the Institute of Packaging Professionals, these guidelines include a Restricted Substance List (RSL) for food packaging and other management recommendation.
CHEMICAL POLICY DEVELOPMENT
Published annually by the Mind the Store Campaign, the retailer report card details fourteen criteria used to grade the development and implementation of corporate chemical policies by major retail chains, including grocers and restaurants. The scoring rubric provides detail on methodologies and retailers' grades.
Principles for Safer Chemicals and The Guide to Safer Chemicals
BizNGO for Safer Chemicals & Sustainable Materials, a collaborative effort between market and nonprofit leaders, provides general principles and detailed guidance to companies interested in developing a workable safer chemicals policy.
TOOLS and DATA
Biodegradable Products Institute
The BPI is a non-profit association with the largest certification program for compostable products and packaging in North America. Search their database for certified compostable products.
The Chemical Footprint Project (CFP)
The CFP provides the opportunity and methodology for companies to participate in a survey process to assess their chemical management policies and practices and to begin to gauge the chemical footprint of their products, operations and supply chain. A collaboration between Clean Production Action, Lowell Center for Sustainable Production, and Pure Strategies, Inc.
GreenScreen for Safer Chemicals
A comparative hazard assessment tool developed by Clean Production Action that informs your search for safer chemicals and environmentally preferable products.
GreenScreen Certified Standard for Food Service Ware
This certification program sets a new safety standard for everyday items like disposable plates and bowls that do not contain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) plus thousands of other chemicals of concern.
A project of ChemFORWARD, this screening tool consolidates global regulatory and authoritative lists to help you quickly identify and eliminate known chemicals of high concern, while ChemFORWARD’s alternative portfolios guide you toward what to use instead.
A project of Healthy Building Network, Pharos is a user-friendly database service that provides hazard, use, and exposure information on more than 140,000 chemical substances (subscription required).
A first-generation methodology by Clean Production Action to evaluate various plastics based on toxic chemical hazards associated with their manufacture.
Understanding Packaging (UP) Scorecard
A product of the Food Packaging Forum, this scorecard is a science-based online tool to help users select foodware and food packaging that is safe and environmentally sustainable.
INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATIONS
Clean Production Action (2018). Alternatives to PFAS-Coated Food Packaging. Factsheet.
Coalition for Safer Food Processing and Packaging (2017). Testing Finds Industrial Chemical Phthalates in Cheese. Summary and full report.
Defend Our Health (2020). Known Uses of ortho-Phthalates in Food Contact Materials in the United States. Full report.
Defend Our Health (2020). Racial, Age, and Gender Disparities in Exposure to ortho-Phthalates in the US. Full report.
Defend Our Health and Ecology Center (2021) Capped with Toxics: Toxic chemicals found in the plastic liners of bottle caps from glass-bottle beverages. Full report.
Ecology Center with Environmental Health Strategy Center for Coalition for Safer Food Processing & Packaging (2019). Taking Off the Toxic Gloves: An Investigation of Phthalates and Other Chemicals of Concern in Food-Handling Gloves. Summary and technical report.
Pure Strategies (2018). Sources of Phthalates in Dairy Farm Equipment. Prepared for Environmental Health Strategy Center and Coalition for Safer Food Processing & Packaging, with screening and testing by Ecology Center. Full report.
TechLaw and Northwest Green Chemistry (2018) Alternatives to Five Phthalates of Concern to Puget Sound. Final Report to Washington State Department of Ecology. Full report and webinar.
EXPERT REVIEWS
Geueke, B. (2014). Dossier – Bisphenol A. Food Packaging Forum.
Geueke, B. (2016). Dossier – Bisphenol S. Food Packaging Forum.
Geueke, B. (2016). Dossier – Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs). Food Packaging Forum.
All Food Packaging Forum dossiers available here.
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (2014). Chronic Hazard Advisory Panel (CHAP) on Phthalates and Phthalate Alternatives. Full report.
USCPSC (2017) update on exposure to phthalates
C8 Science Panel: Website evaluating perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA).
MEDIA COVERAGE
Martinelli’s Among Brands Searching for Safer Bottle Cap Options (The Pajaronian, 2021)
Annie’s Pledges to Purge a Class of Chemicals From Its Mac and Cheese (The New York Times, 2021)
Maine outlaws PFAS products with pioneering law (2021)
Chipotle got its hands dirty to achieve waste diversion goals (GreenBiz, 2021)
Will the U.S. Ban PFAS in Food Packaging? (Civil Eats, 2021)
The Sticky Problem of Plastic Wrap (National Geographic, 2021)
Chipotle marks sustainability goals with innovative ‘glove story’ (Nation’s Restaurant News, 2019)
Vinyl gloves used at certain McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s locations may contain toxic chemicals linked to reproductive issues (Business Insider, 2019)
Some Farm Equipment May Be a Source of Toxic Chemicals, Study Finds (Dairy Reporter, 2018)
Getting to the Bottom of Phthalates in US Dairy (New Food Magazine, 2018)
The Chemicals in Your Mac and Cheese (The New York Times, 2017)
