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To help food & beverage industry select sustainable food contact materials

A new online resource – Toxic-Free Food Contact – provides practical guidance to the food and beverage industry on how to identify safer and more sustainable food packaging, food processing equipment, and food service ware.

The free web-based resource identifies suppliers of preferred food contact materials across the supply chain from farm to fork. It ranks food-handling products by safety and sustainability, including dairy inflations, plastic tubing, conveyor belts, food packaging, cling film, disposable gloves, and more.

The guide will help companies avoid chemicals of consumer concern that may migrate into food products during processing, packaging, and service.

Matt Thomas, founder and CEO of Brew Dr Kombucha, endorsed the new online resource stating: “Food business owners may not be well versed in the environmental health impacts associated with food production and packaging. This website makes it very clear what brands should look out for, what questions to ask suppliers, and what products to avoid. The list of potential suppliers is particularly helpful.”

Consumers continue to rate “chemicals in food” as their top food safety concern, according to the annual survey by the International Food Information Council. One recent peer-reviewed research study found plastics-related chemicals in every sample of fast food tested. 

The American Academy of Pediatrics has concluded: “… that chemicals used in food and food contact materials may contribute to disease and disability … Children may be particularly susceptible to the effects of these compounds …”, based on growing scientific evidence.

Defend Our Health, which researched and produced the Toxic-Free Food Contact guide, is a nonprofit organization that works to ensure that all people have equal access to safe food and drinking water, healthy homes, and products that are toxic-free and climate-friendly.