Of the 15,159 chemicals used in materials that touch food, such as packaging and cooking utensils, 87% lack sufficient data to assess their safety.
The Food Packaging Forum Foundation, a nonprofit research foundation based in Zurich, Switzerland, published the findings on the 1st in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, according to medical sources on the 7th. The research team built its dataset by merging two food contact chemical (FCC) databases the foundation operates.
Many food contact chemicals are hazardous, but their sheer number limits what individual testing and regulation can achieve. The team classified the chemicals into groups using SMARTS, a technique that identifies similar patterns in molecular structure. Because substances with similar structures tend to act similarly in the human body, untested chemicals that share a structure with a confirmed hazard can be brought under regulatory scrutiny alongside it.
The 1,222 chemicals flagged as potential hazards were organized into the FCCPrio List, divided into four tiers. The 94 substances in the top tier include lead, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP). PFOA is used in frying pan coatings and paper cups, while DEHP serves as a plasticizer in medical tubing, detergents and packaging.
The team designated 38 groups with high proportions of hazardous substances as priority groups. Beyond per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), the list includes primary aromatic amines and isocyanates. Of the 4,222 chemicals in those groups, 70% had no hazard data, and counting substances outside the groups brings the total of unevaluated chemicals to 13,211.
Human exposure has been documented before. A separate study the foundation released in 2024 identified 3,601 food contact chemicals detected in blood, urine and breast milk.
The foundation has been building related databases since 2020, including FCCdb, FCCmigex and FCChumon. FCCmigex was updated last year to cover about 1,500 studies and information on 5,300 chemicals, and a database called FCChelix, which compiles effects on human health, is under development. Efforts to close the gaps in hazard data are proceeding database by database.
The team said the grouping approach could also help prevent what is known as regrettable substitution, in which a substance with proven hazards is swapped for a structurally similar but untested one. Doing so would stop untested chemicals with similar structures from reaching the market while regulators work through substance-by-substance procedures.
"Assessing chemicals one by one is inefficient and does not protect consumers adequately," researcher Jane Muncke said. "This study offers regulators a grouping approach they can put to use immediately."
