Washington becomes first state to ban non-stick chemicals in food packaging

The Healthy Food Packaging Act was signed in March by Washington Governor Jay Inslee, banning nonstick chemicals in food packaging. Specifically, the act bans the use of fluorinated chemicals, also known as PFASs or PFCs which are commonly used in food packaging such as popcorn bags, pizza boxes, and fast food wrappers. The law requires that as of January 2022, all food products sold in Washington from all fast-food restaurants, grocery stores, or any other retailer must be packaged in materials that do not include perfluorinated chemicals. The ban will only go into effect if the state’s ecology department is able to find a safer alternative to be used in the packaging of food by 2020. If a safer alternative is not found by 2020, the ban goes into effect two years after the alternatives are discovered.