ClientEarth's contribution to the Commission's IIA on Food Contact Materials

The materials in contact with food – from the grain silos to our bags of flour – are not inert. Plastic, carboard and paper for example leach chemicals into our food, and contribute to food contamination sometimes 100 times more than pesticides. Laws exist at EU and national level, but they have not been able to prevent or minimise this pollution.

The EU is now launching a reform of its regulatory framework, which is a great opportunity to make food contact materials safer, but also more sustainable by avoiding unnecessary use of materials, promoting reuse and repair.

In this document ClientEarth shares with the Commission, in response to its 'food contact material reform inception impact assessment' consultation, our diagnosis of why the current issues exist and how to solve them with a better law.