Harmful chemicals in paper food packaging? “Problematic” findings prompt calls for EU safety assessment

21 Aug 2019 --- A lab study conducted by four European consumer groups has reportedly shown that food packaging made of colored paper and cardboard – such as coffee cups and straws – may contain and release harmful chemicals originating from the inks used for printing. The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) – to which the four consumer groups belong – is calling for EU-wide laws regulating the use and safety of all paper and cardboard food packaging. With single-use plastics set to be banned in the EU as of 2021, the test raises safety concerns over some alternatives like paper straws, BEUC states.

Paper is the second most used food packaging material after plastic. Unlike plastics, however, there are no EU rules governing paper’s use as a food contact material.

National consumer groups Altroconsumo (Italy), Forbrukerrådet (Norway), Forbrugerrådet TÆNK (Denmark) and OCU (Spain) analyzed 76 samples of printed paper or board food packaging, such as coffee cups, paper straws, printed napkins and grocery products. The test showed that:

• More than one in six samples contained primary aromatic amines, some of which are suspected to cause cancer. Nine samples contained these chemicals above the limit set in the EU Plastic Regulation.
• Almost all 76 samples contained UV filters. Some UV filters are suspected to cause cancer or disrupt the hormone system. Further analysis of 21 samples showed that UV filters migrate into food above the recommended levels in six products, including a children’s box of raisins. 
• The safety of most of the substances found to migrate into food has not been evaluated by the EU food safety watchdog, European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

“Most consumers naturally assume that the material in direct contact with their food is free of harmful chemicals, but that is sadly not the case,” comments Monique Goyens, Director General of BEUC. “Chemicals in packaging that leak into our food ultimately enter our bodies, but they have no place there.”

“This new test adds to the growing evidence by consumer groups across Europe that paper food packaging may not be as innocent as it seems. To protect consumers’ health, the EU needs to develop strict rules that are more than a paper tiger,” Goyens stresses.

Goyens believes it is worrying that paper is used in contact with our food without a safety net. With the ambitious ban on single-use plastic around the corner, the EU must ensure that alternatives such as paper and board food packaging are safe for consumers, she says.

The background
Overall, the test results demonstrate that printed paper and board food packaging materials may contain and release problematic chemicals, including many that have not been evaluated by EFSA. While none of the tested products in isolation may endanger human health, they nonetheless contribute to overall consumer exposure to problematic – and in some cases non-evaluated – chemicals.

These results echo a similar test of fast-food packaging run in 2017 by EU consumer groups. It found high levels of problematic fluorinated compounds in one-third of tested fast-food packaging. Scientists suspect that fluorinated compounds may have adverse effects on human health, such as cancer, infertility and obesity.

This new test again underscores the need for the European Commission to develop EU-wide rules for the presence of chemicals of concern in all paper and board materials in contact with food, BEUC claims. To date, only plastic is regulated.

The Commission has acknowledged that the health of consumers is not adequately safeguarded for printed materials in contact with food. The EU Parliament has likewise called for action to make sure problematic substances stay out of food packaging and food. Similarly, earlier this year, the European Court of auditors flagged in a report that harmonized safety rules for food packaging other than plastics are still needed.

The warnings stack up
Helle Buchardt Boyd, Regulatory Toxicologist at DHI, who conducts courses in food contact material evaluations and provides advice for enterprises dealing with food contact materials, also believes that the EU should be putting paper food packaging on its regulatory radar.

“The scientific literature regularly reports findings of such chemicals in food and paper and board, which may originate from not only coloring and printing ink, but also adhesives and other additives and production aids,” Boyd tells PackagingInsights.

“Some risks are unknown or only discovered years later, which does not promote consumer’s trust in food contact materials,” she says.

Boyd believes that the establishment of a positive list of colorants and additives would most likely fulfill the purpose of bringing the problem under control and enable paper food packaging to take its place in the circular economy.

It is also important that colorants fulfill certain specifications for identity and purity to avoid non-intentionally added substances in the food contact material, she explains.

“Bringing the problem under control should also mean that we do not allow anything on a positive list, that is not well-defined and fully toxicologically examined. The exposure assessment should not only take into consideration the direct migration of substances to food during the first use, but also indirect exposure, environmental release and what happens during recycling,” Boyd concludes.

By Joshua Poole