The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has amended its food additive regulations and issued a request for information regarding phthalates. The agency has taken these actions in response to two food additive petitions and one citizen petition requesting that FDA address phthalates in food contact surfaces and food packaging.
FDA revoked authorizations for the food contact use of 23 phthalates and two other substances used as plasticizers, adhesives, defoaming agents, surface lubricants, resins, and slimicides. The agency revoked authorization for these 25 substances after the Flexible Vinyl Alliance filed a petition in 2018 that demonstrated that the use of these substances have been abandoned by industry. The action removes the phthalates from the list of substances authorized by FDA in the Code of Federal Regulations Title 21, Parts 175–178.