Food Contact Regulations USA 2023

Nidia Mariana Calvo Mendez joined Enhesa Product Intelligence's Expert Services team as Managing Analyst almost 3 years ago. She oversees regulatory content and service relating to products in the Americas, and coordinates the global analyst team from her base in Guadalajara, Mexico. Prior to joining Enhesa Product Intelligence, Nidia spent her career in industries conducting regulatory analysis and risk management mainly for Latin America. She also has experience in TSCA, GHS, performing audits, and obtaining ISO 140001 certification

Dr. Paul Honigfort is the Director of the Division of Food Contact Substances, Office of Food Additive Safety, which is part of the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA). The Division of Food Contact Substances is the segment of the US Government responsible for regulatory actions under the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act for all materials that contact food, including food packaging.

Kathryn (Katie) Skaggs is an expert in the regulation of food contact materials in a host of jurisdictions including the U.S., EU, South America (particularly the MERCOSUR bloc), Canada, China, eastern Asia, India, the Middle East (GCC), Australia, and New Zealand.

Claire Sand is a Global Packaging Leader with 35+ years of broad experience in the food science and packaging spectrum. Sand's mission is to enable a more sustainable food system with science and value chain innovations that more sustainably increases food shelf life and prevents food waste. She leads cross-functional efforts, infuses innovative solutions, provides compelling business and technology strategies and business cases, and generates implementation roadmaps for the packaging and food industry.

Tom Neltner is EDF’s Senior Director for Safer Chemicals. He leads efforts to remove or minimize hazardous chemicals from products and the marketplace through cross-cutting policy initiatives.

Bridget M. Richardson is Associate General Counsel at Blue Apron, where she supports the company's vision of Better Living Through Better Food™ by advising on a variety of issues related to regulatory compliance, external communications, and supply chain management, among others.

Nathaniel holds a J.D. with a concentration in Environmental Law from the University of Maryland, Carey School of Law. He also has a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University. In his role as Regional Expert for the US and Regulatory Team Lead, Nathaniel helps companies prepare for new environmental, health, and safety regulations for their workplaces. He also helps them better understand existing regulations and how to comply with them.

Melissa Lavoie is a Project Manager at the Northeast Waste Management Officials’ Association (NEWMOA). In her role at NEWMOA, Melissa manages the Toxics in Packaging Clearinghouse (TPCH) and the Interstate Chemicals Clearinghouse (IC2). In her role at TPCH, Melissa is the single point of contact for the regulated community for the 10 member states and affiliate members. Melissa is a former Maine state representative, having served two terms on Maine’s Joint Standing Committee on Environment and Natural Resources. After serving in the Maine legislature, Melissa served as the deputy director for Recycling Reinvented, a national nonprofit that worked to advance state-level extended producer responsibility policies to increase national recycling rates for packaging and printed paper.

Dennis Raglin is the co-chair of Steptoe’s California Proposition 65 group. He has over 25 years’ experience as a litigator counselling and defending clients in this right-to-know chemical warnings law, as well as a broad range of other chemicals-focused litigation. He has provided compliance advice related to state and national chemical regulatory programs, including green chemistry initiatives, the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 (TSCA), and consumer product safety regulations.

Kate McGlynn is the Executive Director of the Recycled Paperboard Technical Association (RPTA), an association dedicated to the improvement of recycled paperboard and containerboard. She is responsible for RPTA’s technical programs, including all facets of RPTA’s comprehensive program for food-contact materials manufactured from recycled materials.

Rebecca is currently the Director of Global Regulatory Affairs where she leads the regulatory affairs team in all aspects of legislation and regulations. She has been with INX International for 10 years and has served in a variety of roles within the INX Environmental Health and Safety Department. Rebecca enjoys the challenges and opportunities for problem solving that come from ongoing regulatory changes and updates. Prior to joining INX, Rebecca worked in the cosmetics and private label food industries.

Joseph (Joe) Spinnato is the Food Packaging Manager for Bostik. His role is mainly focused on working with Product Development to design food packaging products (laminating adhesives and coatings) which will be safe and compliant for their intended use. In this role, Joe develops protocols for migration testing. Additionally, he is involved in customer education in the areas of food packaging safety and regulation. He currently serves as a co-chair of the Food Safety Alliance for Packaging, which is focused on food safety through the supply chain (chemical manufactures, converters, and brand-owners), and the Adhesive and Sealant Council Regulatory Affairs Committee. Prior to Bostik, Joe worked for Ashland and for Invista S.à r.l. in similar roles.

Nhat Nguyen is a US licensed attorney with over 9 years of global regulatory compliance. He currently serves as the Chief Analyst for Enhesa Product Intelligence and leads a new department which provides further insights and solutions to Enhesa Product Intelligence's customers on regulatory compliance, technology and scientific data regarding chemical and chemical products. 

Dr. Zhu Lei, Researcher, Director of Food Safety Standard Division I, China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment (CFSA). In 2016, she studied the regulation and evaluation method of food contact materials (FCM) in EFSA as a guest scientist. She is the Deputy Chairman of the Branch Committee on Food Related Products of the National Food Safety Standards Review Committee, the Deputy Secretary General of the plastic subcommittee of Direct Food Contact Materials (FCM) Standardization Technology Committee, the member of the ISO/TC 52 International Standardization Technology Committee of Light Gauge Metal Containers, the National Food Safety Risk Assessment Expert Committee, the National Packaging Standardization Technology Committee and the National Plastic Products Standardization Technology Committee, etc. 

Regulatory Affairs & Sustainability Leader at Sealed Air. Graduated in Environment Engineering, Postgraduate in Safety Engineering and a Master in Sustainability Management. Worked several years as a Product Stewardship & Regulatory at Chemical Industry in Latin America and joined the Packaging Industry since 2018.

Dr. Zhongwen Wang is a scientific evaluator at Food Packaging Materials and Incidental Additives Section, Chemical Health Hazard Assessment Division, Bureau of Chemical Safety, Food Directorate, Health Products and Food Branch, Health Canada. Her main responsibility is to conduct premarket assessment for the chemical safety of food packaging materials.

Ruxandra defends industry interests towards legal and regulatory challenges to EU market access. Her practice is focused on EU regulatory law and litigation with a strong emphasis on product, environmental and sustainability regulations, across a large number of sectors ranging from raw materials (chemicals, minerals) to products such as electronics, consumer apparel, medical devices, cosmetics, food and food contact materials. Ruxandra also advises on supply-chain related matters, in particular environmental and regulatory. Although rules and regulations apply per jurisdiction, companies operate globally – her expertise and advice assist companies address global challenges and risks. Ruxandra’s litigation experience is extensive (she defended close to 100 actions before the European Court of Justice and before the Board of Appeal of ECHA), and she has formed and continues to act as a trusted advisor to more than 30 industry groups.

Dr. Bailey is a Branch Chief in the Chemistry Review Branch in the Division of Food Contact Substances (DFCS) in CFSAN’s Office of Food Additive Safety (OFAS). During his career with the FDA, his efforts have focused primarily in the area of “indirect” food additives, now referred to as food contact substances (FCS). Allan was involved in the development and/or implementation of the two primary pre-market approval programs for FCSs, the Threshold of Regulation (TOR) Exemption and Food Contact Notification (FCN) programs.

Jeff Buczynski has over 13 years leading programs in the petroleum, chemicals, and packaging industries. His experience includes a wide range of regulatory frameworks including global registries, GHS, hazard risk assessments, toxicology, medical device and food contact applications. He also has many years experience with Environmental and Sustainability Programs

Scott Cassel is a leader in the product stewardship movement, with over 40 years of experience tackling waste management issues in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. As CEO and Founder of the Product Stewardship Institute, Scott oversees research, design, and stakeholder engagement to develop and advocate for EPR policies. In 2022, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) appointed Scott to its Marine Debris Foundation board of directors, where he works on policy, infrastructure development, and innovative technologies to clean up and prevent pollution of our waterways and ocean.

JC Walker advises businesses and trade association clients on a broad range of U.S. and international product stewardship and environmental matters. Mr. Walker also counsels clients on risk management and other considerations affecting industrial and consumer products, including environmental marketing claims.

Mason Myers is a Project Manager in the Notifications Group for Intertek's ASSURIS team in the United States. He joined this group in December 2021. Mason is responsible for recycling projects for US FDA NOL, EFSA Authorizations, Surrogate Contaminant Test (Challenge Test), and evaluation for recycled materials used in food contact applications.