Plastics and chemical migration into food

Plastics are the most versatile and popular materials used in the manufacture of food packaging and other food contact materials (FCMs) with approximately 50% of all Europe s food packaged in plastics. This has come about through the ready availability of a variety of plastics with different permutations of properties, so that the ideal materials (or combination of materials) can be selected to satisfy most applications, particularly with the increasing performance demands in recent years. Section 10.3 of this chapter briefly discusses the different plastics used in the manufacturing of FCMs, their key attributes and properties, composition and manufacture. 

This chapter is primarily devoted to assessing the safety of FCMs with the next section discussing in depth the requirements of EU Plastics Directives and how compliance with the legislation is demonstrated (see also Chapters 3 and 5). Section 10.4 reviews degradation products, whilst sections 10.5 and 10.6 are concerned with future trends in plastics materials and sources of further information. 

2 Testing plastics materials for compliance with EU directives 

EU legislation covering plastics food contact materials is well advanced with a positive list for monomers complete and a positive list for additives near completion. Decisions on how other substances used in plastics, such as aids to polymerisation and colourants are to be regulated, if at all, have yet to be made. Plastics used in contact with food must comply with the Framework Regulation, which lays down the basic rules  

Materials and articles in contact with food shall be manufactured in compliance with good manufacturing practice so that, under normal or foreseeable conditions of use, they do not transfer their constituents to food in quantities which could  

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Recycled plastics and chemical migration into food 203... 

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