What Chemicals Has Your Food Come into Contact With? 

A New Food Contact Chemicals database reveals just how much we don’t know about the food we consume. 

At least 12,285 distinct chemicals may be used in the manufacture of food-contact materials and articles, including disposable food service ware, according to a new paper published November 30 in the journal Environment International by a team of researchers led by the Zurich, Switzerland-based Food Packaging Forum.

These chemicals are cataloged in a new, freely accessible database released in conjunction with the new paper by the eight-year-old nonprofit organization, widely considered a global leader in food-contact chemical science and communication. The database is the first of its kind, compiled from more than 60 government and industry sources around the world.

Among the thousands of individual chemicals identified, 71 percent were found to have some form of toxicity data available. The researchers also identified 608 hazardous chemicals as high-priority candidates for removal from food-contact materials. 

The remaining 29 percent, or more than 3,500 chemicals, have no toxicity data available because they have not yet been studied, meaning there is no way to know whether or not they are harmful to human health.

The database includes chemicals that could be used in food packaging, information that manufacturers are not mandated to report. As a result, the list is not intended as a cross-reference for identifying types of chemicals in various products. Rather, it provides a foundation for further targeted research and policy development, says co-author Birgit Geueke, a scientific officer with Food Packaging Forum.

The paper and database represent the organization’s latest work that foregrounds overlooked health risks associated with food-contact materials. In early March, a group of 33 leading researchers from Europe, North America and the Philippines, led by Managing Director Jane Muncke, published a consensus statement in the journal Environmental Health calling for more attention and action on the issue. 

“We see a need for revising how the safety of migrating chemicals is assessed,” the authors conclude. “We encourage all stakeholders to focus more on this issue and employ science-based decision making in the interest of improving public health.”