New York bans PFAS in food packaging

In August 2020, the State of New York took a first significant step to pass a law restricting the use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in food packaging. On December 3, 2020 Governor Andrew Cuomo took the final step signing the concerning legislation, which will ban the sale or distribution of food packaging with intentionally added PFAS from 2023.
This new law broadly bans the use of all PFAS, a vast family of very persistent man-made chemicals, most of which remain poorly studied for their potential impact on human health. 
PFAS chemicals are pervasive in food packaging which can contaminate the food it comes into contact with, as well as the environment where the materials containing the chemicals are disposed.
The FDA has recently reported that these substances have been detected in a variety of foods purchased around the US, so people are potentially exposed daily to PFAS when they eat and drink.
Both Washington and Maine have already passed similar legislation to prohibit the use and sale of PFAS-containing food packaging, however, unlike New York, they have defined the identification of safer alternatives to PFAS as a prerequisite for the ban.
The stricter approach of New York, with no requirement for the state to find an alternative to PFAS before banning them, has been criticized by industry groups like The Performance Fluoropolymer Partnership (PFP). PFP considers this new law too restrictive and it has highlighted that some substances (i.e. fluoropolymers) “provide materials that are critical to public health”. 
Many industry groups are hoping for cooperation with the legislators to ensure a “lower risk transition” for all concerned parties, from manufacturers to consumers.
In Europe, Denmark is the first country that has prohibited the use of PFAS in paper and cardboard food contact materials and packaging, unless the PFAS is separated from the food by a functional barrier to migration. This new Danish law became effective on July 1, 2020.
In October 2020, the European Commission has published a new chemicals strategy, as part of its overarching European Green Deal plan, where it proposes to ban the most toxic substances (including PFAS) by default, authorising them only on a case-by-case basis, when it can be proved that their use in certain applications is absolutely essential. In line with the timeframe of the UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development, the EU action to phase out PFAS should occur by 2025 at the latest, while the ban should come into force by 2030.
In light of the recent scientific opinion on the risk to human health from the presence of PFAS in food released by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in September 2020, the EU Commission is working to phase out the use of all PFAS in all types of FCM. This could be regulated via specific measures under the Framework Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004, which covers materials that come into contact with food, or by a restriction under the REACH law.