Chemicals used in food packaging can migrate into food and drinks, raising concerns about potential health effects and the ability of regulators to assess thousands of substances individually, according to researchers.
Food-contact materials include everyday products such as plastic bottles, milk cartons, ketchup containers and wrappers used for cheese and other foods. While these materials are expected to protect food without affecting its safety, research has shown that some chemicals can move from packaging into the products they contain.
One of the best-known examples is bisphenol A, or BPA, a chemical associated with endocrine disruption. The European Union banned its use in food-contact materials in 2025, while the United States restricts BPA in products including baby bottles, sippy cups and infant formula packaging.
However, scientists warn that replacing one substance with another does not necessarily remove the health concern. BPA has often been replaced by chemicals such as bisphenol S, or BPS, which researchers say may have similar effects.
Helene Weisinger, a chemist at the Swiss nonprofit Food Packaging Forum, described the repeated replacement of one chemical with another as “chemical whack-a-mole”.
In a recent study published in Environmental Science and Technology, Weisinger and colleagues proposed grouping chemically related substances for regulatory purposes. Under such an approach, substances with similar structures and potential health effects could be assessed and regulated together instead of being considered one at a time.
The researchers said there are about 15,000 chemicals used in food-contact materials. Of these, 1,222 have known major health risks, while information about the safety of many others remains limited.
The team identified 38 groups of structurally related food-contact chemicals in which several substances had clear health risks. Many other chemicals within those groups have not been sufficiently studied, highlighting areas for further research.
Olwenn Martin, an associate professor in health and environment at University College London who was not involved in the research, said assessing every chemical individually could take hundreds or even thousands of years at current testing rates.
She said grouping chemicals could help regulators make decisions about substances that share structural characteristics, allowing them to act more quickly when evidence points to risks.
Martin Wagner, a biologist at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, said stronger regulations had already reduced exposure to some regulated substances in European populations. However, he said exposure to replacement chemicals was rising.
The researchers also highlighted another challenge: some substances found in food packaging are not deliberately added during manufacturing. These “non-intentionally added substances” can be created during chemical processing or enter materials as contaminants.
Wagner said food-contact materials are highly complex and can contain many unknown chemicals capable of migrating into food and water.
The findings have renewed calls for regulators to assess groups of chemicals rather than focusing solely on individual substances, potentially reducing harmful substitutions while addressing gaps in safety information.
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