WASHINGTON – In case you missed it, U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) reintroduced bipartisan legislation to ban toxic PFAS chemicals – also known as ‘forever chemicals’ – in food wrappers and packaging. PFAS chemicals, which are sometimes used in food wrappers to repel grease, oil, and water, are linked to serious health challenges in humans, including cancer.
See coverage highlights in Food & Wine Magazine below:
Food & Wine: The PFAS Phaseout in Food Packaging Isn’t Federal Law — 2 Senators Want to Change That
We’ve come further than you may realize in the fight against per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as “forever chemicals,” at least when it comes to the wrapper on your next takeout burger. In 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that the PFAS coatings that once kept grease from soaking through fast-food wrappers are no longer sold in the U.S. It’s a win, no doubt, but it was voluntary, not mandated by law. Now, Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) wants to change that.
Hassan exclusively told Food & Wine that she and Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) are introducing the Keep Food Containers Safe from PFAS Act of 2026 (H.R. 9593), which would ban food packaging containing intentionally added PFAS from interstate commerce starting Jan. 1, 2028. The bill would make selling such packaging a prohibited act under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, Hassan’s office explained, giving the FDA actual enforcement power rather than just having to ask nicely.
“Voluntary action is good, but we need to make sure that the FDA has the tools to insist that all companies take action,” Hassan shared.
It’s a move that would truly matter in the long haul for her constituents in New Hampshire and beyond, as PFAS earned the nickname “forever chemicals” because the carbon-fluorine bonds that make them so effective at repelling grease also make them extremely slow to break down, both in the environment and in the body. Research has linked some PFAS, including PFOA and PFOS, to cancer, reproductive problems, and weaker responses to vaccines.
[...] And for her, this is personal.
“Unfortunately, people in New Hampshire are really familiar with the dangers of PFAS,” Hassan said. As governor, she learned in May 2014 that a drinking water well serving the Pease International Tradeport in Portsmouth was contaminated. The state has since spent years addressing pollution from the former Pease Air Force Base and from around a former Saint-Gobain plastics plant in Merrimack. Hassan first introduced the Keep Food Containers Safe from PFAS Act in 2021. The next year, the Senate health committee added it to an FDA funding bill with bipartisan support, but the ban ultimately didn’t make it into the final law. This time, she has a Republican partner from day one.
“When you have people from both sides of the aisle committed to making change, it tends to be sustainable change,” Hassan said. “I think we’re seeing really grassroots support for this kind of measure, and I’m hopeful that we can get it over the finish line.”
Hassan also argued that the bill would protect businesses that had already voluntarily made the switch. Restaurants and grocers, she said, compete on slim margins, and “it’s really important that if you are taking the steps you need to, to remove PFAS from your packaging or find a PFAS-free source of packaging, that you’re not put at a competitive disadvantage.”
###