During production, packaging, storage, preparation and consumption, food comes into contact with materials that contain harmful substances such as plasticizers and bisphenols. These substances can pass into food. Consumers do not feel sufficiently informed about the risks associated with these substances, as a Europe-wide survey shows and the consumer advice center reports.
Harmful substances in food packaging?
Consumers from Germany and ten other European countries were surveyed about their attitudes, experiences and risk awareness in connection with food packaging and food contact materials. This new survey confirms the results of a survey commissioned by the Federal Association of Consumer Organizations (vzbv) from 2019 .
Almost two thirds of those surveyed from Germany (64 percent) stated that they had “little or not at all” information about harmful substances that can migrate from packaging into food. Many of those surveyed are of the opinion that the information on the use of food packaging and kitchen utensils is not understandable (68 percent) or not easy to read (67 percent). A majority of respondents in Germany (56 percent) therefore find it difficult to recognize whether food packaging and containers are safe for use. Many consumers (67 percent) are also concerned about health effects from chemicals contained in food packaging. Therefore, 90 percent of German consumers surveyed are in favor of a legal ban on chemicals in packaging and kitchen utensils that could leach into food, even if there is only a low health risk.
“The current regulations are not sufficient to adequately protect consumers. The fundamental revision of the EU framework regulation on food contact materials is long overdue,” comments Christiane Seidel, head of the vzbv food team.
“What is urgently needed are clear bans on particularly harmful substances, an approval process for all materials that come into contact with food, and more staff and money for food monitoring. In order for consumers to be better supported in the safe handling of food packaging etc., the European Commission must develop a uniform labeling concept,” says Seidel.
BEUC press release from April 14, 2023 (English)
Source: Federal Association of Consumer Organizations
Method: The survey was conducted in October 2022 in eleven European countries: Germany, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Italy, Netherlands, Norway Portugal, Slovenia and Spain. Data was collected using an online questionnaire. Over 1,000 people were surveyed per country. The people surveyed represent a representative sample of the national population of the respective country. The samples were weighted according to age, gender, level of education and region.
Also read:
Less plastic when cleaning
Sustainable fashion: This is how jeans work without chemicals
What does (no) climate protection cost us?
Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )