BPF refutes claim of The Guardian's report: Plastics packaging is safe

"Plastics packaging is safe", said the British Plastic Federation (BPF) in response to an article in The Guardian newspaper, "Chemicals leaching into food from packaging raise safety concerns" on February 19.

"The Guardian article followed a familiar pattern," notes Philip Law, the BPF's Director General Designate. "The article cited a paper from a learned journal warning of long term damage of exposure to synthetics and urging further research. It was an alarmist piece and once again the views on the industry were not solicited. A host of chemicals were conveniently swept up under the generic label of 'synthetics' with no consideration for their very different, individual profiles. There was no suggestion that some of the chemicals commonly regarded as 'synthetics' are actually naturally incurring. Strangely, no reference was made to the news that this week the European Commission had completed a review of two phthalates and concluding that they posed no risk to consumers."

BPF says there is no specific case of a human being's health being impaired by exposure to chemicals from plastics used in any application, let alone packaging. The association emphasized that plastics used in food packaging are subject to a whole battery of EU and national regulations, including the EU Regulation on plastic materials and articles intended for contact with food and the immensely detailed REACH Regulation. On top of this, monitoring is carried out not only by the European Food Safety Authority but also by the UK Food Standards Agency.