Food & Chemicals Unpacked

Jan 03 2025 14 ep. 31 mins 6

Food & Chemicals Unpacked Podcast artwork

Food & Chemicals Unpacked is your go-to podcast for hot topics impacting the food and chemical industry. Join our hosts, Keller and Heckman Partners Mark Thompson and Katie Skaggs, as they provide a bird’s eye view of the emerging legal and scientific issues surrounding the food, chemical, packaging, and related consumer product industries in an easily digestible and accessible format. Food & Chemicals Unpacked provides clear and concise updates on legislative developments, new regulations, and other non-governmental initiatives that impact these industries. Each episode will present critical information on these topics along with supporting resources from Keller and Heckman’s website blogs, including Packaginglaw.com, The Daily Intake (our food blog), and The Continuum of Risk (our tobacco and e-vapor blog).

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Let's Pack It Up – 2024 Packaging Year in Review

Jan 03 2025 31 mins

In this episode, we reflect on key legal, scientific, and industry developments from 2024 that impact packaging and some insights on what to expect and prepare for in the upcoming year across the food and chemical industry.

Trash Talk: The EU's Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR)

Oct 01 2024 29 mins

This episode of Food & Chemicals Unpacked explores the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) currently being advanced in the European Union (EU). Keller and Heckman Partner Hazel O’Keeffe joins us to provide an overview of the proposed regulation, covering its main objectives and potential impacts on food packaging, cosmetics, and other consumer products. This talk

Economic Adulteration: Secrets in the Sauce

Aug 02 2024 38 mins

In this episode, we cover "economic adulteration," which is intentionally changing a food product's composition for an economic motive (e.g., removing or substituting a valuable ingredient or part of a food). This is often referred to as “food fraud." Keller and Heckman Partner Tony Pavel joins us to provide an overview of the history of economic adulteration in the U.S. and more

Much Ado About TiO2

May 06 2024 28 mins

This episode provides an update on recent activity involving the use of food additive titanium dioxide (TiO2). It includes a brief background on the use of TiO2 followed by the recent inquiries into the safety of TiO2 in France and Europe, and a recent statement by FDA confirming the safety of the food additive. Dr. Ivan Boyer, a staff toxicologist at Keller and Heckman, shares his

Prop Bets: Weighing the Stakes with Proposition 65

Nov 10 2023 26 mins

This episode explores California’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, also known as Proposition 65. Partner Sophie Castillo, an attorney from Keller and Heckman’s California Proposition 65 and Litigation practices, shares her insights on complying with Proposition 65. Sophie provides background on the law, the significance of a Proposition 65 warning, preemp

The Notorious NAD: Challenge Accepted?

Sep 08 2023 41 mins

The 8th episode of Food & Chemicals Unpacked dives into the inner workings of the National Advertising Division (NAD), the advertising industry’s self-regulatory mini court. Keller and Heckman attorneys Katie Bond and Samuel (Sam) Butler, both from our Advertising and Promotion practice, join us to provide an overview of all things NAD. We cover its origin, the structure of NAD p

Pit Stop at Chevron: Will We See a Difference in Deference?

Jun 13 2023 38 mins

In this episode, we take a more traditional legal focus as we discuss potential changes to a cornerstone of federal administrative law, called Chevron Deference. This standard has long governed how much deference federal courts give to decisions made by agencies, such as FDA and EPA. It is based on a 1984 case, Chevron v. National Resources Defense Council, that the Supreme Court r

Laying Claim: FTC’s Green Guides

Mar 30 2023 39 mins

This episode offers a roundtable discussion on the regulatory landscape surrounding “green claims” in the United States with Keller and Heckman partners Sheila Millar and JC Walker. This detailed conversation touches on numerous advertising claims of interest to brand owners that are currently under consideration by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in an effort to update its

Extended Producer Responsibility: EPR You Ready?

Feb 01 2023 24 mins

The topic of this episode is Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) programs for packaging materials, which have begun to proliferate in the U.S. Four states have now implemented EPR programs, others have proposed legislation, and more states are expected to follow suit in the years to come. Keller and Heckman Partner Rachel Bond joins our hosts to discuss EPR and related sustainab

Blowing Smoke: FDA’s Evolving Regulation of Tobacco and Nicotine Products

Oct 25 2022 42 mins

This episode details the regulatory landscape for tobacco products and reports on current trends in the industry. Our team shares its knowledge of the process for obtaining authorization to market new tobacco products in the U.S. We also provide the inside scoop on industry-shaping litigation that Keller and Heckman has led. Finally, the episode discusses recent changes at FDA’s