UK food standards agencies call for ban on bamboo-based plastic F&B packaging 

01 Aug 2024 --- The UK’s Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Food Standards Scotland (FSS) have issued a warning to consumers over potential toxicity in bamboo-based F&B packaging. The advice comes after a 2022 warning over unauthorized plant-based materials like rice husks, wheat straw and hemp, which highlighted a lack of safety evidence. 

Using new evidence submitted to the FSA and FSC by the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT), the agencies say data remain insufficient to conclude that bamboo-based products are safe and that concerns remain over the impact on health from long-term use. 

“Our position remains that food containers and utensils containing bamboo composite material should not be sold in Great Britain,” says Dr. James Cooper, deputy director of food policy at the FSA.

“We don’t know the long-term health impacts of using these products, and we continue to have concerns that chemicals such as formaldehyde and melamine might leak from these materials when they are in contact with food, especially hot or acidic foods.”

“Previously, businesses were asked to remove these products from sale and, as a precautionary measure, consumers were advised that they should not use any of these products they had previously purchased until a full investigation into the potential risks had been completed,” he continues. 

“Now this is complete, we are advising consumers who still have these items not to use them for storing or serving food, but to dispose of them in general waste, and for businesses to ensure these products are not made available for sale.”

Calls for a sales ban 
The COT concluded that the presence of bamboo and similar plant-based matter in plastic materials can result in formaldehyde and melamine leaking into F&B products above the legal limit, which is unsafe for consumers. 

Formaldehyde is naturally produced by the body but when ingested at high levels can lead to gastrointestinal symptoms. Melamine consumed in the short term has low acute toxicity, but long-term exposure at high levels can result in kidney and urinary tract damage and damage. 

While it is “very unlikely” that the short-term use of these products would result in an immediate risk to health, the FSA and FSS recommend reducing exposure to them as the long-term impacts of regular use remain unclear. 

Based on the new evidence, the agencies are repeating their calls for the industry to remove the products from sale for all food contact use, that the products should remain unavailable in Great Britain and that consumers should dispose of or repurpose them if still in possession. 

Following the European Commission Food Contact Material legislation, these products have already been prohibited for sale in Northern Ireland as food contact materials.

The advice does not apply to items made solely from bamboo or plant-based materials, only those products that use a combination of plastic and plant-based materials. Businesses are being asked to check that any bamboo or similar-plant products remaining on the market do not contain plastic components. 

“These products are not compostable and can’t be recycled, so consumers who still have them should discard them in the general waste bin or re-use them for non-food purposes,” concludes Cooper.