No Toxic Chemicals in Food Packaging Act of 2026
Sponsored By: Representative Schakowsky, Janice D. [D-IL-9]
Introduced
Summary
Declare many widely used chemicals unsafe in food packaging. This bill would add a new subsection to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act that names specific substances as unsafe for food contact and requires safety reviews of alternatives with special consideration for vulnerable populations and a two-year delay before the rule applies.
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- Families and children: It would bar listed substances from being treated as safe for food contact, aiming to limit household exposure to chemicals such as PFAS, bisphenols, ortho-phthalates, benzene, and formaldehyde.
- Regulators and vulnerable groups: The Secretary would have to consider effects on infants, children, adolescents, pregnant people, the elderly, workers, and communities with disproportionate exposures when evaluating alternatives.
- Manufacturers and states: Packaging makers would need to justify the safety of alternatives to avoid these listed substances. The bill preserves state and local authority to adopt stricter rules and clarifies that state-law liability is unchanged.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
4 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.
States can make stricter additive rules
If enacted, the bill would not prevent States or local governments from adopting laws that are stricter than the federal rules on food additives and food-contact substances. States could ban substances, regulate manufacture, distribution, sale, or use of foods containing regulated additives, and preserve state liability claims. This preservation of state authority would take effect on enactment and could lead to varying state rules and enforcement.
Ban toxic chemicals in food packaging
If enacted, this bill would deem many listed chemicals unsafe for use in food-contact packaging. The list includes PFAS, bisphenols (A, B, S, F, AF), ortho‑phthalates, asbestos, benzene, formaldehyde, styrene polymers, and others. Those substances would be ineligible as food contact substances two years after enactment. This change would affect manufacturers, packagers, retailers, and consumer exposure to chemical residues in packaged foods.
New definitions for chemicals and groups
If enacted, this bill would add clear definitions used in the new rules. It would define "ortho‑phthalates" as non‑polymeric esters of ortho‑phthalic acid and "PFAS" as perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substances with at least one fully fluorinated methyl or methylene carbon. It would also define "vulnerable population" to include infants, children and adolescents, pregnant women, the elderly, workers with exposure risks, residents of overburdened communities, and other groups the Secretary identifies. These definitions would take effect two years after enactment and would determine who and what the safety rules cover.
Require FDA review for vulnerable people
If enacted, the bill would require the Secretary (FDA) to consider harms to vulnerable populations when reviewing alternative food-contact substances. This requirement applies when an alternative is proposed to replace a substance the bill lists as unsafe and is in addition to existing safety criteria. The review requirement would take effect two years after enactment.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Schakowsky, Janice D. [D-IL-9]
IL • D
Cosponsors
Rep. DeLauro, Rosa L. [D-CT-3]
CT • D
Sponsored 6/9/2026
Rep. Jackson, Jonathan L. [D-IL-1]
IL • D
Sponsored 6/9/2026
Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large]
DC • D
Sponsored 6/9/2026
Rep. Barragán, Nanette Diaz [D-CA-44]
CA • D
Sponsored 6/9/2026
Rep. Pingree, Chellie [D-ME-1]
ME • D
Sponsored 6/9/2026
Rep. Watson Coleman, Bonnie [D-NJ-12]
NJ • D
Sponsored 6/9/2026
Rep. Dingell, Debbie [D-MI-6]
MI • D
Sponsored 6/9/2026
Rep. Lynch, Stephen F. [D-MA-8]
MA • D
Sponsored 6/9/2026
Rep. García, Jesús G. "Chuy" [D-IL-4]
IL • D
Sponsored 6/9/2026
Rep. Friedman, Laura [D-CA-30]
CA • D
Sponsored 6/22/2026
Rep. Grijalva, Adelita S. [D-AZ-7]
AZ • D
Sponsored 6/23/2026
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
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