PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a large family of man-made chemicals used in industrial and consumer applications. Rules for cookware and food packaging address particular uses, sales activities and product categories, with different deadlines and exceptions.
FDA: cookware authorizations and paper packaging
FDA has authorized specific substances containing PFAS for food contact since the 1960s. FDA lists four authorized food-contact applications involving PFAS: nonstick coatings, sealing gaskets for food-processing equipment, manufacturing aids and grease-proof agents for paper packaging. Its food-contact overview says manufacturers must submit data demonstrating reasonable certainty of no harm from the intended use. Since 1999, authorizations have predominantly taken the form of food-contact notifications specific to a manufacturer or supplier; another manufacturer using the same substance must submit its own application.
FDA describes a highly polymerized coating bound to cookware and reports that studies show negligible amounts of PFAS in that coating can migrate to food. It also says PFAS may occur in packaging as impurities or contaminants.
FDA’s January 3, 2025 announcement about the packaging authorizations covered 35 notifications for substances used in grease-proof coatings on paper and paperboard to prevent oil and water leakage. They became ineffective January 6, 2025. FDA said the uses had been abandoned because manufacturers or suppliers had ceased production, supply or use of the substances.
Minnesota: sales restrictions and exceptions
Since January 1, 2025, Minnesota Statutes section 116.943 has prohibited a person from selling, offering for sale or distributing for sale cookware containing intentionally added PFAS in the state. The restriction excepts products whose intentionally added PFAS occur only in electronic or internal components.
The section also exempts the sale or resale of used products, products for which federal PFAS law preempts state authority, and products regulated under sections 325F.072 or 325F.075.
Maine: food-contact surfaces and internal components
Maine’s PFAS product law has prohibited selling, offering for sale or distributing for sale cookware containing intentionally added PFAS in the state since January 1, 2026, subject to statutory exceptions. Products sold in used condition are excepted.
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection’s guidance covers household products for preparing, dispensing or storing food and beverages whose food-contact surface contains intentionally added PFAS. Examples include pots, pans, skillets, grills, baking sheets, baking molds, trays, bowls and cooking utensils, plus electric cookware such as waffle makers, electric skillets and air fryers.
Products without intentionally added PFAS in the food-contact surface, but with such PFAS in internal parts that do not contact food, fall outside the 2026 prohibition and are subject to the 2032 requirements. The guidance also excludes refurbished products.
Maine may designate currently unavoidable uses by rule. A prohibited product remains prohibited for sale until a final board decision is effective. For a retailer in Maine, the prohibition applies to a product when the retailer has received the statutory notification that its sale is prohibited.
Connecticut: labeling before the sales prohibition
Connecticut’s PFAS provisions have required covered cookware containing intentionally added PFAS to be labeled in accordance with the law since July 1, 2026. That condition applies to manufacture, sale, offers for sale and distribution for sale in the state.
From January 1, 2028, the state will prohibit those activities for cookware containing intentionally added PFAS, subject to the section’s exemptions.
Exemptions include federal preemption; products regulated under sections 22a-903a or 22a-255i; sale or resale of used products; prosthetic or orthotic devices; medical devices or drugs; and products otherwise used in a medical setting or in medical applications regulated by FDA. Products made with at least 85 per cent recycled content are also exempt.
The section additionally exempts products manufactured before a prohibition it imposes, and replacement parts for those products.
Vermont: the July 2028 deadline
Vermont’s cookware provision takes effect July 1, 2028. It will prohibit a manufacturer from manufacturing, selling, offering for sale, distributing for sale or distributing for use in the state any cookware to which PFAS have been intentionally added in any amount.
The exception covers sale, offers for sale, distribution for sale and distribution for use of products previously used by a consumer for their intended purpose.
EU: the proposed universal restriction
In its June 15, 2026 statement, the European Commission described work towards a future universal PFAS restriction. It said it would present a proposal aimed at minimizing PFAS emissions after the European Chemicals Agency delivered its final scientific assessment, expected by the end of 2026.
The Commission said it would also consider a consumer-goods ban. Continued industrial use might be permitted for critical uses without adequate alternatives, under strict conditions and only until acceptable substitutes were developed.
The Commission calls PFAS “forever chemicals” because of their extreme persistence in the environment and human body. It is also developing an EU-wide monitoring framework to centralize information, identify pollution hotspots, highlight successful remediation practices and gather data from relevant legislation.