Notice to retailers: Plastic containers or utensils containing bamboo.

The FSA has issued an update regarding plastic food contact materials and articles containing bamboo and similar plant-based materials and have launched a call for evidence on their safety.

Plastic articles containing bamboo and similar plant-based materials are non-compliant at any level. Reasonable and proportionate enforcement action should be considered, this includes sufficient controls to prevent them from entering via Border Control Posts (BCPs).

The majority of non-compliant products are melamine with bamboo. Other plant based inclusions are used, for example rice husks, wheat straw, coffee grounds and hemp. Other plastics such as polylactic acid (PLA) reported with a maize additive, are also implicated. Any level of plant-based material within a plastic is deemed as an additive, even if the plant-based material makes up the biggest proportion of the article.

Further information

The FSA is not recommending a recall, in that this advice does not affect sales already made to the final customer.

The FSA’s advice does not apply to items made solely from bamboo or plant-based materials, only those products which use a combination of plastic and plant filler. Retailers are being asked to take care to check that any bamboo or similar-plant products remaining on sale do not contain any plastic components and to ensure that they meet the applicable national regulations.

It may be difficult to tell whether a product is made from a bamboo-composite material once it has been removed from its packaging, but products will have a smooth surface and have the feel of plastic. Some products may have a recognisable logo which will help consumers to check whether it is an implicated article.

If in doubt, the FSA advises not to use the product until the full risk assessment has been completed.

For more information on this please see Notice to retailers: Plastic containers or utensils containing bamboo | Food Standards Agency

For more details and to respond to the call for evidence, please see our Call for Evidence: Plastic food contact materials containing bamboo and similar plant-based material as additives | Food Standards Agency