Residues of Food Contact Materials in Food

Luke K. Ackerman is an Analytical Research Chemist at the U.S. FDA’s Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition, specialising in chemical method development, food contaminant identification, and packaging safety analysis. With over 15 years at the FDA, he focuses on advancing analytical technologies, including direct/ambient ionization mass spectrometry, to support food safety assessment and enforcement.

Saskia Both is a state-certified graduate food chemist. She studied food chemistry at the Technical University of Kaiserslautern and has been Head of the “Materials and Articles Intended to Come into Contact with Food” Department at the Saarland State Office for Consumer Protection (LAV) in Saarbrücken since 2008. In addition, she is actively involved in the ALS (Working Group of Food Chemistry Experts of the Federal States), is a member of the BfR (German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment) Commission of Consumer Products, and serves as Vice President and member of the Presidium of the Federal Association of Food Chemists in the Public Sector (BLC).

Laurence Castle has extensive experience in the field of food contact materials (FCM). He retired from Fera Science UK in 2015. He is a long-standing member of the EFSA Working Group evaluating substances used in FCM.

Valeria Guazzotti is scientist at the Fraunhofer-Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging (IVV) in Freising (Germany). She studied food science at the University of Milan (Italy), where she received her PhD degree in 2013 with a thesis on the evaluation of paper and board for food contact applications. From 2014 to 2016, she worked for an Italian chemical Company in the bioplastics sector. Since January 2017, Valeria joined the department Product Safety and Analytics at the Fraunhofer IVV where her current activity is devoted to the coordination of research projects dealing with analytical testing for the regulatory assessment of food contact materials, sustainability and recycling of plastics.

Michiel Kokken studied Food Science at Wageningen University and has held various quality and regulatory positions at ADM Cocoa and Olam Cocoa. He currently serves as Global Head of Regulatory and Scientific Affairs Cocoa at olam food ingredients (ofi), where he leads regulatory strategy across the cocoa business and the EMENA region. Michiel is actively engaged in several industry working groups, including serving as Chair of the Technical Working Group on Mineral Oil Hydrocarbons (a cross‑sector initiative involving the jute and cocoa sectors), Co‑Chair of the ICCO Expert Working Group on Food Safety, and member of the contaminants and pesticides working group (ECA/Caobisco).

Charlotte Kromer is a pharmacist specializing in toxicology and has been working at the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) in Berlin since 2020. In 2024, she joined the unit \"Safety of Food Contact Materials\" within the department of \"Food and Feed Safety in the Food Chain\". Her work focuses on the toxicological risk assessment of food contact materials, with a particular emphasis on those made from paper and recycled fibers.

Mariem Meggouh‑Grewe is a Technical Sales Representative at ARGUS Additive Plastics in Büren, Germany, a position she has held since February 2025. Before joining ARGUS, she spent over seven years as a Product & Application Development Scientist at Venator Materials, following earlier work as an R&D Scientist at Huntsman Pigments and Additives. She brings a strong background in polymers, analytical methods, and application development to her role.  

Peter K.T. Oldring is a Regulatory Affairs Manager at Sherwin Williams, based in UK and is actively involved in activities to support the can coating business, including chairing various groups such as cross sector group.

Dieter Schrenk has been a Professor for Food Chemistry and Environmental Toxicology at the University of Kaiserslautern since 1996. In 2005 he took on the full professorship for Food Chemistry and Toxicology. He joined the EFSA CONTAM Panel in 2003 where he was the Chair from 2018 to 2024.

Thomas Simat has been a Professor and the Chair of Food Science and FCM at the Technische Universität Dresden with research on FCM since 2003. He is the Chairman of the ‘German BfR Committee on Consumer Products’’.

Ernst Simon is Director Regulatory Affairs at Flexible Packaging Europe (FPE), leading regulatory topics across the flexible packaging value chain, particularly in food-contact applications. Previously Senior Manager Printing Inks and Market Development Food Packaging at Clariant, he also contributes his expertise through long-standing involvement with the European Aluminium Foil Association (EAFA) and as a board member of the German Food Technology and Packaging Association (IVLV).

Kahina Slimani has been a scientist at ANSES (French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety) since 2015, where she works on the safety assessment of food contact materials. Her research focuses on chemical and biological contamination pathways, including cross‑contamination risks associated with reusable food packaging and food‑contact surfaces.

Lionel Spack is a Senior Expert Food Contact Materials in Corporate Operation-Quality Management at Headquarter of Société des Produits Nestlé S.A in Vevey. He was previously FCM Expert within the Nestlé Quality Assurance Center (NQAC) supporting the Zone EMENA (Europe, Middle East, North Africa). Earlier he was Packaging QA specialist at the Nestlé Research Center. He is involved in international associations, e.g. in the International Association of Environmental Analytical Chemistry (IAEAC), Schweizerische Verpackungsinstitut-Joint Industry Group and FoodDrinkEurope.

Makiko Yada is working as Public Affairs Manager in Cefic's Public Affairs Department in Brussels.