Overview

Science summary

Little or no publicly available scientific data attests to the safety of many of the thousands of chemicals currently used in food packaging. And even less data is available on the effects from the combinations of or the cumulative exposures to multiple chemicals coming from food packaging and processing. In the USA, it is estimated that around 5,000 chemicals are used in processing and packaging materials and around 5,000 are used as direct additives. Over 200 chemicals on the FDA permitted lists have already been identified as hazardous and another 530 would qualify for official hazard classification based on predictive hazard data.[1]

Chemicals linked to breast cancer used in food packaging and processing include BPA and other bisphenols, phthalates, PFAS ‘forever chemicals, vinyl chloride and styrene. For some of these chemicals, like BPA, the body rapidly clears them (i.e., metabolizes and excretes them). This means that when those chemicals are replaced with safer alternatives in food packaging or processing, the levels of these chemicals in people quickly go down. However, other chemicals linked to health harm are more persistent, meaning the body takes longer to clear them, or that they don’t break down quickly in the environment. The result is that people are exposed to these chemicals longer or repeatedly, even once manufacturers replace them with other chemicals, putting people at greater risk of negative health effects.

Laws & regulations on food packaging & processing chemicals 

How chemicals in food packaging and processing are regulated, why it’s a concern, and what we’re doing to change that.
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Harmful food chemicals replaced with mystery chemicals

Unfortunately, companies that replace a chemical of concern typically don’t reveal the new alternative or health and safety data on it. BPA abandonment is an example of this pattern of regrettable substitution, and it applies to the replacement of many different toxic chemicals in food packaging and processing.

Widespread market abandonment of BPA

Our work to educate consumers and policymakers about the dangers of toxic chemicals in food processing and packaging since 2006 through our Cans Not Cancer Campaign, along with emerging science, brought BPA to the forefront of the federal debate on toxic chemicals. As a result of this pressure, manufacturers and retailers have moved toward BPA-free baby bottles, sippy cups, infant formula packaging, and sports water bottles. Learn more about what the Cans Not Cancer Campaign to get BPA out of food cans can teach us about what it takes to change a sector’s go-to toxic chemical.

Ongoing consumer demand for BPA-free and PFAS-free food packaging has driven manufacturers to use replacement chemicals. Companies usually do not reveal the identity of replacement chemicals and sometimes the safety of these chemicals is unknown. The chemical properties of BPA replacements can be similar to BPA. Research suggests that some of these chemicals are also endocrine disruptors. The same concerns about companies secretly substituting other chemicals which are not safer, i.e., the phenomenon called regrettable substitution, also applies to per- and polyfluorinated chemicals (PFAS) in paper-based food packaging. Some of the emerging data indicate that many shorter-chain PFAS chemicals now being used to replace the longer-chained ones may also have negative health effects.

Our  2016 report, “Buyer Beware: Toxic BPA and regrettable substitutes found in the linings of canned food,” written by BCPP in collaboration with leading , revealed the use of a number of troubling BPA alternatives including PVC, which may contain residual levels of the carcinogen vinyl chloride, and styrene acrylates, which can be contaminated with styrene, a mammary carcinogen. Read Our Report

FDA petitions and litigation

BCPP participates with our allies in official FDA procedures called ‘Petitions’ to request changes in policy decisions,  as well as lawsuits against the FDA where necessary, to change policies that allow cancer-causing and other harmful chemicals to be used in food packaging and processing equipment. A few examples include:

• 2020 petition to force the FDA to address the cumulative health effect of all chemicals in the diet when allowing new chemicals in food, or in any materials that contact food in processing or packaging
• 2018 lawsuit to force an FDA decision on cancer-causing chemicals in popular foods
• 2017 lawsuit for illegally delegating the FDA’s authority to ensure food safety to food and chemical manufacturers
• 2016 petition to stop the use of harmful ortho-phthalates in food processing and packaging materials
• 2014 petition-turned-lawsuit to ban the use a hormone disrupting chemical in dry-foods processing and packaging