Sponsors (13)
The bill prioritizes stronger federal protection against toxic chemicals in food packaging — especially for vulnerable populations — while imposing transitional costs, potential price increases, legal uncertainties, and uneven enforcement burdens.
Consumers — especially infants, children, pregnant people, people with chronic conditions, healthcare workers, and disproportionately exposed communities — would face lower health risks because the bill deems many toxic chemicals unsafe for food-contact uses and requires FDA to evaluate alternatives with vulnerable populations in mind.
States and localities retain authority to adopt stricter restrictions than the federal standard, letting communities act faster or more stringently to limit harmful additives where they choose.
Manufacturers get a two-year delay before the federal deeming takes effect, giving businesses time to reformulate packaging and adjust supply chains to reduce immediate market disruption.
Manufacturers and retailers will likely face higher costs to reformulate packaging and replace banned materials, which could be passed on to consumers as higher food prices.
Workers and firms in affected supply chains (manufacturing, transportation) could suffer job losses or transitional economic harm if substitutions are costly or slow to implement.
Broad federal deeming and unclear definitions of what substances or ‘alternatives’ are covered could create compliance uncertainty and trigger litigation, imposing legal costs on businesses and some state governments.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Declares a list of chemicals unsafe for food-contact use and requires FDA to consider harms to vulnerable populations when evaluating alternatives; states may set stricter rules.
Official title: To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to deem certain substances to be unsafe for use as food contact substances, and for other purposes.
Introduced June 9, 2026 by Janice D. Schakowsky · Last progress June 9, 2026
Declares a specified list of chemicals and chemical classes unsafe for use as food-contact substances and requires the FDA to weigh harms to vulnerable populations when assessing alternative substances. The law preserves state and local authority to adopt stricter food-additive or food-contact rules and takes effect two years after enactment. The listed substances include PFAS, several phthalates, multiple bisphenols, known carcinogens and solvents (e.g., benzene, chloroform, ethylene oxide), and other chemicals of concern; the FDA must treat petitions to permit alternatives with consideration for impacts on infants, children, pregnant people, elderly, people with preexisting conditions, exposed workers, and disproportionately exposed communities.