European health and food safety concerns drive growing trust in glass packaging

This article is based on an independent consumer study conducted in February 2014 by InSites Consulting for FEVE, as part of the Friends of Glass campaign. The figures quoted below reflect consumer attitudes at that time.

Consumers encouraged to ‘look beyond the label’ at the packaging role

Independent research conducted in 2014 with 8,000 consumers revealed that Europeans were, at the time, more worried about health and food safety than environmental problems, international terrorism or public safety, with the role of packaging in food safety ranking among their key concerns.

The findings pointed to a growing concern among European consumers about the potential health risks of chemical compounds leaching into food from packaging. Two thirds (66%) of consumers said they were worried about food contamination, including the risk of chemicals leaching from food packaging into its content.

Eight out of ten consumers surveyed believed these chemical interactions could pose a risk to human health. The findings also showed that European consumers (60%) were most worried about plastic containers affecting food or beverage content, out of all the materials surveyed — metal, cartons, bag-in-box, plastics and glass.

Health concerns played a key role in consumer decision-making and in driving demand for food and beverages packed in glass. Among those who opted for glass, 61% trusted it as the safest packaging for their health — up from 48% of consumers surveyed in 2010.

According to FEVE, the European Container Glass Federation behind the Friends of Glass campaign, consumers were increasingly looking at how products are stored and packaged, and not only at what is written on the label. This caution was especially pronounced among parents of young children: 77% of European parents said they preferred glass for storing baby food, and 61% avoided buying baby food in plastic bottles or other materials.

Existing scientific research has examined the migration of chemicals from packaging materials into food. Plastic polymers, metals and paper/cardboard have all been identified as possible sources of unwanted chemicals in food, occurring mainly through the migration of intentionally added or process-related constituents. While the risk of exposure is generally considered low, researchers note that further study is needed to clarify the issue scientifically.

FEVE encouraged consumers to ‘look beyond the label’ — considering not only a product’s ingredients but also the form of packaging they are buying, particularly for everyday decisions such as the weekly family shop. An increasing number of Europeans surveyed (87%, compared to 74% in 2010) recommended glass as their number one packaging choice for food or beverages, reflecting consumer trust in glass as one of the most pure and inert materials.

Glass acts as a natural, impermeable barrier and does not interact with food and drink products. In the US, glass is the only widely-used packaging material considered “GRAS” or “generally recognised as safe” by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In 2011, when banning the use of BPA (Bisphenol-A, a plasticiser used in some plastics manufacture) for plastic baby bottles, the EU recommended glass as a safe alternative for human health.

The EU Commission has been strengthening legislation on chemicals that leach out of food packaging. Glass packaging is positioned to meet even the most stringent future EU food contact standards, because it is chemically inert — it does not interact with its contents and is impermeable to external contaminants.

USEFUL DOCUMENTS

GLASS HEALTH SURVEY: EXPLORING CONSUMER ATTITUDES RELATED TO PACKAGING AND FOOD

17 May 2014 (pdf)

LITERATURE REPORT ON FOOD PACKAGING MATERIALS AND THEIR POTENTIAL IMPACT ON HUMAN HEALTH

13 May 2014 (pdf)

Editor’s Notes:

About the survey:

In February 2014, the independent research agency InSites Consulting conducted a consumer survey in 11 European countries (France, Italy, Germany, Spain, the UK, Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Switzerland). Commissioned by FEVE as part of the Friends of Glass campaign, over 8,000 consumers aged 24 to 64 were surveyed. 41% were parents; 75% were women, 25% were men. The results are representative for each country.

About FEVE:

FEVE  (The  European  Container  Glass  Federation)  is  the  association  of  European  manufacturers of glass   packaging   containers   and   machine-made   glass   tableware. The   federation   represents  the  glass  container  industry  at  the  international,  and  especially  European, level and serves as a forum   for   examining   common   questions.   FEVE   maintains   a   dialogue   with   the   European institutions and agencies on environmental,   trade and other important issues. The federation promotes  glass  packaging  and  glass  recycling,  complementing  the  activities  of  the  glass  industry at  the  national  level.

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