Sponsors (12)
The bill prioritizes stronger public-health protections by deeming many food-contact chemicals unsafe and requiring consideration of vulnerable populations, at the cost of higher compliance and reformulation expenses, potential economic disruption for supply-chain workers, and uneven enforcement between jurisdictions.
Consumers — especially infants, children, pregnant women, and people with chronic conditions — would face reduced exposure to toxic chemicals in food-contact materials because the bill deems many unsafe additives and limits their use in packaging.
Vulnerable populations (infants, pregnant people, workers, and disproportionately exposed communities) would get stronger consideration in FDA evaluations of alternative materials, increasing protections for groups at greater risk.
States and localities would retain authority to adopt stricter restrictions than the federal standard, allowing faster or more stringent local action to limit harmful food-contact additives.
Manufacturers and retailers would face higher costs to reformulate packaging and replace banned materials, which could lead to higher food prices for consumers.
Workers and businesses in affected supply chains (manufacturing, transport) could suffer job losses or transitional economic harm if substitutions are costly or slow to implement.
Broad federal deeming could create compliance uncertainty and trigger litigation over which substances are covered and what counts as an ‘alternative,’ imposing legal and administrative costs on businesses and states.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Treats a specified list of chemicals as unsafe for use in food contact materials, requires safety review of alternatives with focus on vulnerable populations, and preserves stricter state/local rules.
Declares a list of specific chemicals and chemical classes unsafe for use in food contact materials and requires regulators to consider harms to vulnerable populations when reviewing alternatives. It also preserves state and local authority to adopt stricter rules and clarifies that food contact substances are ‘‘food additives.’' The ban on listed substances takes effect two years after enactment.
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