European National Legislation
Before the EU started to introduce legislation on food contact materials, there were very many sets of legislation around the EU relating to materials in contact with foods. Where the EU have started to introduce harmonized legislation such as the Plastics Directive 2002/72/EC, these pieces of national legislation have been repealed. However, there are still quite a number of important classes of food contact materials excluded from harmonized legislation and for these materials national regulations still apply. These types of materials include the following and many other classes of materials.
- Paper and cardboard which are covered in Germany by BfR recommendation XXXVI and in the Netherlands by the Warenwet
- Colourants in plastics which are subject to a positive list under French legislation
- Rubbers and elastomers which are subject to BfR recommendations.
European Paper Legislation
To the present date, the EU have not introduced any specific legislation relating to paper in contact with foodstuffs, so you might think that food contact paper is not covered by any legislation. However, paper is still covered by the general safety requirements of the Framework Regulation 1935(2004) which requires that food contact papers should not 'under their normal or foreseeable conditions of use, transfer constituents to foodstuffs in quantities which could endanger human health'.
To demonstrate that this requirement has been met, the most common approaches adopted are to ensure that the material either;
- Meets the requirements of national legislation in an EU member state (e.g. the German BfR recommendations or the Dutch Warenwet)
OR - Meets the standards set out in the draft Council of Europe resolution on food contact papers.
Pira can help you devise programmes of compliance against these standards.
Contacts:
Alistair Irvine
email: alistair.Irvine@pira-international.com
Tel: +44 (0)1372 802176
Allison Chambers
email: allison.Chambers@pira-international.com
Tel: +44 (0)1372 802181