[Contaminants from food packaging : New developments in risk assessment]

Diverse materials intended for contact with food are important sources of food contamination. Harmonised European regulations including whitelists (so-called "positive lists") of substances along with migration limits and restrictions exist for plastics and regenerated cellulose films only. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is responsible for the risk assessment of substances prior to their authorization and inclusion into the positive lists. In 2016 the EFSA issued an opinion on recent developments in the risk assessment of substances migrating into food for public consideration. Also migration related to non-intentionally added substances (NIASs), e. g. impurities, degradations products or oligomers, may be relevant for risk assessment. For substances migrating in quantities up to 50 ppb the requested data are restricted to genotoxicity testing based on a tiered approach for toxicological data requirements. In the case of higher migration levels (>50 ppb) experimental animal studies are also requested. Along with an evaluation of the available information, toxicological data on structurally similar substances may be used for the assessment if sufficiently justified with the aim to reduce animal studies as far as possible. For the risk assessment of NIASs it is possible to apply in silico methods in the absence of experimental toxicological data. Additionally, new technologies such as the use of nanomaterials, active and intelligent packaging and recycled plastics are challenging tasks in EFSA's risk assessment in accordance with the regulations by the European Commission.