Packaging Materials 2: Polystyrene for Food Packaging Applications. Updated version.


Polystyrene plastics are used into a variety of packaging materials and articles for use with a wide range of foods and beverages. This report covers the characteristics and uses of Polystyrene, its basic chemistry, safety and toxicology, environmental aspects, and regulatory considerations.

The ILSI Europe Packaging Materials Task Force has started off in 2000 a series of reports on Packaging Materials. Each report is dedicated to a major type of packaging material and aims at describing all essential aspects of their use to a non-specialised audience. The first issue of the ILSI Europe Report ‘Polystyrene for Food Packaging Applications’ was published in 2002. In view of recent developments in this field, an update of this report is necessary and has been commissioned by the Packaging Materials Task Force. The updated version of this report presents major changes in the chapters on regulatory issues and on toxicological aspects. Polystyrene and the styrene-butadiene copolymer plastics have been used as packaging materials for many years. Their special physical and chemical properties have made the plastics manufactured from polystyrene especially suitable for formation into a variety of packaging materials and articles for use with a wide range of foods and beverages. This report reviews the basic chemistry and characteristics of polystyrene plastics packaging that come into direct contact with foods and beverages and their applications. It also addresses European and U.S. food contact regulations and casts light on related safety/toxicology and environmental issues.

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For more information about the Packaging Materials Task Force, click here.