Food contact legislation

The European Commission currently shares with its member states the responsibiUty for regulating materials coming into contact with food. With respect to plastics, harmonisation of national regulations is nearing completion. 

Current European legislation is based on a three-tiered structure  

Recent directives and their amendments can be viewed at the European Union website at locations such as  

Directive 2002/72/EC includes a list of additives that are currently regulated at EU level. Those additives not on the EU list, but currently approved under national legislation, can continue to be used imtil the end of 2006. By then, petitions must have been submitted to the European Food Safety Authority and accepted, if the use of these substances is to continue. The legislation was recently summarised in a Rapra paper at an Addcon World conference. The paper includes several lists of permitted additives. 

Some general principles apply to plastics food packaging  

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This article outlines the food contact legislation in the UK that applies to plastic articles and materials that come into contact with food. Key requirements are that materials must not transfer chemicals to food in quantities that cause a hazard to human health, or cause the food to become tainted with a strange taste or odour. The regulations also set out testing conditions that enable compliance with the requirements to be demonstrated. 

EC FOOD CONTACT LEGISLATION AND HOW IN THE FUTURE IT MAY BE APPLIED TO LACQUER COATED FOOD AND BEVERAGE CANS... 

Specific migration is the amount of a specific component that migrates from the food contact material to the food during contact. There are several ways to demonstrate compliance of the specific migration limits (SMLs) set in EU food contact legislation. The generic approach is shown in Fig. 5.2. For every component with a specific migration limit that is present in a material the procedure in Fig. 5.2 must be completed. 

Within Germany, the food contact legislation for rubbers is described in... 

Recent legislation issues in Europe have involved the end-of-life disposal of vehicles and electrical goods. Food contact legislation has been updated. Plasticisers, brominated flame retardants and biocides have also been the subject of EU legislation. The EU s proposals on the testing of chemicals are expected to create difficulties for the plastics and additives industries, although compensations may become apparent. 

The DuPont product is named Viton FreeFlow SC and RC and, unlike earlier types of fluoropolymer additives, they can be mixed into many pigmented masterbatches, with less interaction. The Dyneon grades are marketed as Dynamar PPA. The latest fluorocarbons comply with most world food contact legislation. 

M. Mady, Global food contact regulatory requirements an overview, PIRA s Global Food Contact Legislation Conference, Alexandria, VA, April 3-4, 2008. 

Food film Suspension 40—50 DOA/pol)uneric Food contact legislation... 

TTie dry film must be non toxic, and meet food contact legislation. 

Finally but not least, all formulated interior two piece can coatings must be non-toxic, chemically inert, meet organoleptic requirements, and be approved within the current food contact legislation... 

Legislation limits not only the amount, but also the nature of what may be allowed to migrate. For example, the main plasticisers allowed for food contact polymers are listed in Table 10.4. 

The key legislative requirements are covered by the USA FDA 176.170 (aqueous fatty food contact), FDA 176.180 (dry food contact), FDA 176.230 (Thione use) and in Europe, the German BGVV 36 (food contact). Hence the preservatives used to protect these types of additives need to have these approvals in order to guarantee their safe use in the desired end application. 

The objective of this presentation is to provide an overview of the industry practices to fulfil the obligations in the field of food contact materials and articles, and in addition to discuss elements which are currently not fully covered by legislation. Obligations and burden of proof are discussed with reference to requisites for compliance, evidence of compliance, and liability. 

This presentation discusses current EU chemical legislation and examines the shortcomings of some of the regulations in place with respect to dangerous chemicals. The Commission White Paper is discussed, and in particular, the REACH system which involves the registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals used in food-contact applications. The impact of the REACH system on food-contact plastic manufacturers is examined, with respect to suppliers of monomers and additives, plastic manufacturers, converters and packagers. 

Over the past decades there has been a big increase in chemical legislation this is also true for regulations governing the use of colourants for food-contact applications. The various food-contact regulations worldwide are briefly examined from a pigment manufacturer s point of view. The advantages of getting a product listed by FDA are discussed in detail, not only from the perspective of USA sales but also from that of the supply into other markets. 

Although European Directives have been issued on legislative requirements for food contact plastics, European harmonisation of regulations for rubber or thermoplastic elastomers used in contact with food is yet... 

As a consequence of EU Directive 78/142/EEC, which introduced a limitation of vinyl chloride monomer both as residual amount in final articles (QM lmg/kg) intended to come into contact with foodstuffs and in migration to food (SML not detectable LOD 0.01 mg/kg), the corresponding necessary analytical methods were developed between several European expert laboratories and laid down as agreed methods in EU Directives 80/766/EEC and 81/432/EEC, respectively. This piece of the EU harmonization process was too time- and work-consuming to continue in this way. The vinyl chloride Directives therefore remain a unique feature in EU food packaging legislation since this was found to be impractical for generalization. 

Tice P and Cooper I, 1997, Rationalizing the testing of food contact plastics. In R. Ashby, I. Cooper, S. Harvey and P. Tice Food Packaging Migration and Legislation. Pira International, Leatherhead 1997 (Chapter 5, p 155). 

This presentation covers various aspects relating to stabilisers. These include the structure and mission of the ESPA, the EC Green Paper on stabilisers published on 27th July 2000 and the resolution of the EU Parliament relating to lead and cadmium stabilisers adopted on 3rd April 2001, current EU legislative status of cadmium and lead, key milestones of the PVC Industry Voluntary Commitment relating to stabilisers, scenario of lead replacement in Western Europe, alternatives to lead, plastics additives with approval for direct food contact, tin stabilisers for PVC and issues concerning zinc. EUROPEAN COMMISSION... 

The Community legislation comprises general mles applicable to all materials and articles laid down in the Framework Regulation and specific rules only applying to certain materials or certain substances. The two general principles on which legislation on food contact materials is based are the principles of inermess and safety of the material. A general overview is presented in Fig. 3.1. 

Harmonisation of national legislation on the substances used in food contact plastics was started with monomers as these are reactive substances and thus of primary importance as regards any potential health risk. Monomers and other starting substances are fully harmonised at Community level. This means that only the monomers listed in the specific Community legislation can be used in food contact plastics. An exemption exists for plastic coatings, adhesives and epoxy resins. Monomers which are used only in their manufacture are not listed in the Community lists. 

In a second step, the harmonisation of additives used in plastic food contact materials was started. However, this step is not yet finished Therefore, additives listed both in the Community legislation and in national legislation can be used in food contact plastics (for national lists see section 3.7). It is foreseen that harmonisation on additives will be finalised by 2007. Until 31 December 2006 all parties interested in additives authorised at national level have to supply EFSA with a valid application for evaluation of this additive. Only additives for which a valid application has been supplied may continue to be used according to national audorisation until evaluation is finalised by EFSA and a decision on authorisation is taken by the European Commission. The Community list on additives contains those additives that are used solely in plastics and those used both in plastics and coatings. However, it does not contain additives used only in plastic coatings, adhesives and epoxy resins. 

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