California has barred stores and restaurants from selling or distributing plant-fiber food packaging laced with PFAS chemicals since January 1, 2023, but the state agency tasked with enforcing that ban still has years to go before it can actually crack down on violators. The California Department of Toxic Substances Control this week highlighted the rule in a social media post, framing it as a way to shield residents and the environment from what it called unnecessary chemical exposure.
The post, shared by CalEPA
on its X account after being retweeted from the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, described the effort as protecting Californians and the environment from unnecessary exposure to PFAS in some plant-based food packaging. The underlying law, known as AB 1200, prohibits anyone from distributing, selling, or offering for sale food packaging that contains intentionally added PFAS or concentrations at or above 100 parts per million, according to
tuv.com
. The restriction applies to packaging comprised in substantial part of paper, paperboard, or other materials originally derived from plant fibers.
What Counts as Covered Packaging
The rule reaches deep into everyday take-out and grocery items. Covered products include food and beverage containers, take-out food containers, unit product boxes, liners, wrappers, serving vessels, eating utensils, and straws, per tuv.com's breakdown of the statute. The law also requires manufacturers swapping out PFAS to use the least toxic alternative available when reformulating their products.
PFAS, often nicknamed forever chemicals, are manmade compounds used to make consumer goods resistant to water, stains, and grease, and they're described as toxic even at extremely low levels, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. The group notes the chemicals have been linked in human and animal studies to cancer, hormone disruption, liver and thyroid problems, immune suppression, reproductive harm, and abnormal fetal development. Separately, the Environmental Protection Agency says scientific studies have shown that exposure to some PFAS may be linked to harmful health effects in humans and animals, though it frames that link with caution rather than certainty.
Enforcement Is Still Years Away
Despite the ban's 2023 start date, actual enforcement muscle is a slower-moving piece of the puzzle. A follow-up law, AB 347, requires the Department of Toxic Substances Control to enforce prohibitions on PFAS not just in food packaging but also in juvenile products and textile articles, according to a report from packaginglaw.com. Under that statute, the department must adopt enforcement regulations by July 1, 2029, and isn't required to actually enforce and ensure compliance until July 1, 2030 — meaning the ban has existed on paper for years before the state builds out its enforcement machinery.
The threshold for allowable PFAS in covered food packaging remains 100 parts per million, packaginglaw.com's coverage confirms. Manufacturers of covered products will eventually need to register each item with the state, including its name, description, and a certification statement confirming it complies with the PFAS restriction. The department is also required to publish, by January 1, 2029, a list of accredited laboratories and accepted testing methods that will be used to verify compliance.
Penalties on the Books, Once the Clock Runs Out
When enforcement does begin, the stakes for noncompliant manufacturers won't be trivial. The Department of Toxic Substances Control may issue public notices of violation and assess an administrative penalty of not less than $10,000 for a first violation, per packaginglaw.com's reporting. The statute itself now lives in the state's Health and Safety Code under an article titled Plant-Based Food Packaging Containing PFAS, part of a broader chapter on chemicals of concern in food packaging and cookware, according to law.justia.com.
California isn't acting alone on this front: states across the country have adopted restrictions on PFAS. New York's expanded-polystyrene foam-container ban took effect January 1, 2022, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. California was also the first state in the nation to phase PFAS chemicals out of apparel sold within its borders, the NRDC notes, and companies including American Eagle and L.L. Bean have already removed PFAS from all their merchandise while Ralph Lauren and Patagonia have made time-bound commitments to follow suit.
Federal regulation of PFAS has been more turbulent. The EPA released a rule in April 2024 that would have regulated six PFAS chemicals in drinking water for the first time, but by May 2025 the agency said it would seek to rescind or reconsider regulations covering several of those chemicals and extend a key compliance deadline from 2029 to 2031, according to the NRDC's reporting. For now, California's plant-fiber packaging ban stands as one of the more concrete state-level rules on the books, even as residents wait years for the enforcement apparatus behind it to fully come online.
