Health & Packaging Issues

In a world that is full of toxic threats, glass is the responsible choice for consumers to help protect both their health and the environment.

Glass is the only widely-used packaging considered by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as "generally recognized as safe" or "GRAS," the agency's broadest standard for food-contact materials. As such, it remains the optimal packaging choice, safely preserving the flavor and integrity of the foods and beverages it contains while lowering potential exposure to toxic compounds.

• The Millennials: A Generation Invested in Health and the Environment, November 2014
  The Millennials: A Generation Invested in Health and the Environment was compiled from a 2013 study of 4,046 consumers nationwide, conducted by EcoFocus Worldwide Research in partnership with GPI. The report focused on survey data that included Millennials, born between 1978 and 1992, and explored how their perspective on health and the environment affected their purchasing decisions, recycling actions and other related habits.

• Clear Opinions, November 2013
  GPI partnered with EcoFocus Worldwide Research to conduct a sample of 4,046 nationally representative adults ages 18-65 to ask them very specifically what factors are considerations for them when thinking about the purchase of a food or beverage as it relates to packaging, particularly when it comes to concerns regarding the health or the environment.

• Compliance of Glass Packaging with Human and Environmental Health and Safety Toxics, February 2013
  Over the past two decades, federal, state, and international laws have sought to limit the presence of certain heavy metals in all forms packaging. This paper details the principal regulatory and testing issues, and outlines how the virtually inert nature of glass makes it the gold standard for food and beverage packaging.

• New Study Links BPA Exposure to Obesity in Children and Teens, September 19, 2012
  In response to a study just published in the Journal of the American Medical Association concerning the risks associated with bisphenol A (BPA), the Glass Packaging Institute (GPI) encouraged parents to choose glass in order to lessen their children’s exposure.

• GPI Letter to FDA in Response to Petition Related to Bisphenol-A, September 17, 2012
  The Glass Packaging Institute filed a letter with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in support of a petition to ban bisphenol-A in infant formula containers.

• "Wary of Plastic, and Waste, Some Consumers Turn to Glass" - The New York Times, June 20, 2012
  Glass water bottles, so yesterday. Plastic, so convenient; metal, so hip.

• Choosing Safe Food Containers - Letter to The New York Times' editor from Lynn Bragg, May 9, 2012
  Concerns about the use of bisphenol-A, commonly known as BPA, have been raised by scientists and regulators for many years. Many polycarbonate plastics used in food containers undergo processes that result in the release of BPA into food, beverages, the environment and our bodies.

• Glass Packaging Institute Expresses Concern over FDA Decision on BPA, March 30, 2012
  Today, the Glass Packaging Institute (GPI) announced its concern over the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) decision rejecting a call to ban the use of bisphenol A (BPA) in food packaging in even the most vulnerable populations such as children and child-bearing women.