Category: Food Contact Materials

Food Contact Materials Regulations in the European Union: An Overview

Posted on by Yvette Shen — 13 Comments

Food contact materials usually include products and packaging made to be in contact with food or beverage. This includes a wide range of consumer goods, such as baby bottles, lunch boxes, cookware, and cutlery. Naturally, there are regulations that restrict the usage of certain chemicals and heavy metals in such products.

In this guide you’ll find summaries of EU food contact material regulations, including product scope, labelling requirements, documentation requirements, testing, and more.

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Baby Feeding Bottle Standards and Regulations in the EU: An Overview

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Planning to import or manufacture baby feeding bottles in the European Union? Childcare products, including baby feeding bottles, are strictly regulated. More specifically, baby bottles must both meet strict mechanical safety standards, and food contact material regulations.

In this guide, we cover relevant safety standards, substance restrictions, labelling, documentation, and testing requirements.

In addition, this guide also covers compliance risks that baby feeding bottle importers and manufacturers must be aware of.

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Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) Guide for Importers and Manufacturers

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Generally Recognized As Safe
The US FDA designates substances as Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) if experts have determined via scientific processes that said substances do not pose any inherent health risks. Substances that are GRAS can be found on the FDA’s Food Additives Status List.

This guide covers what GRAS is, food ingredients that have been sanctioned before the implementation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetics (FD&C) Act, and which direct and indirect food substances are affirmed as GRAS.

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Food Contact Materials Lab Testing Guide: A Complete Guide

Posted on by Fredrik Gronkvist — 1 Comment

food contact materials testing
Third-party testing is almost always necessary when importing or manufacturing food contact materials in the EU, US, and UK. In this guide, Niko Markkinen – FCM expert at Measurlabs in Finland, explains what brands must know about the following:

  • How to determine applicable FCM regulations and standards
  • Overall migration testing (OML)
  • Specific migration testing (SML)
  • How to determine the right test conditions
  • FCM testing costs
  • Number of required samples
  • Reasons why FCM testing fail

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Phthalate Regulations in the United Kingdom: An Overview

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Phthalate Regulations in the United Kingdom

Increasingly, phthalates are seen as dangerous when exposed to too much of them. Various jurisdictions, including the UK, are requiring importers and manufacturers to test their products for the presence of phthalates before allowing such products to be placed on the market.

In this article, we explain what phthalates are and why they are one of the more important substances to look out for when importing and manufacturing products in the UK. However, this article does not cover regulations in Northern Ireland.

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Food Contact Material Regulations in the United Kingdom

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Food Contact Material Regulations in the United Kingdom

Are you importing or manufacturing food contact materials (FCM) products for the UK market? Applicable regulations might vary according to the type of product and material. Also, depending on the product, you would have to observe FCM regulations which may continue to come from EU regulatory sources.

This article covers documentation, labelling and other requirements that are applicable to various FCMs. This article does not cover FCM regulations for Northern Ireland.
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EU Declaration of Compliance (DoC) for Food Contact Materials Guide

Posted on by Fredrik Gronkvist — Leave a comment

Issuing a Declaration of Compliance (DoC) is mandatory when importing and manufacturing certain food contact materials in the European Union. Notice that this also includes consumer products such as drinking bottles, cutlery, and individual components.

In this guide, we explain how you can determine if your specific food contact material or product requires a Declaration of Compliance, and what you must know before creating one.

Covered Regulations

  • Plastic Materials Regulation ((EU) 10/2011)
  • Use of Bisphenol A in Varnishes and Coatings Regulation ((EU) 2018/213)
  • Active and Intelligent Materials Regulation ((EC) No 450/2009)
  • Recycled Plastic FCM Regulation ((EC) No 282/2008)
  • Ceramics Directive (84/500/EEC)
  • Regenerated Cellulose Film Directive (2007/42/EC)
  • Epoxy Derivatives Restriction Regulation ((EC) 1895/2005)
  • FCM from China or Hong Kong Regulation ((EU) No 284/2011)

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Packaging Materials Regulations in the United Kingdom: A Summary

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Packaging Materials Regulations in the United Kingdom

Product packaging materials are subject to various regulations and standards in the United Kingdom, applicable both to packaging materials as a category – and product packaging for consumer products. As such, packaging materials regulations are relevant to importers, manufacturers, distributors, and other businesses trading physical products.

In this guide, we cover The Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations, UK REACH, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), and other compliance requirements for packaging materials..

Note that this article does not cover packaging material regulations in Northern Ireland.

What is a packaging material?

A packaging material refers to most materials used to hold, protect, handle, deliver, and in the presentation of goods, and includes packaging for raw materials right through to finished goods to be sold or being sold.

Examples of packaging material include:

  • Paperboard boxes
  • Aluminum
  • Foam
  • Flexible plastic packaging
  • Cardboard/Fiberboard

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Single-Use Plastics Regulations in the United States: An Overview

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Single-use cutlery

Single-use plastic products, such as plastic straws, cutlery, and cups, are slowly being phased out in the United States. In this guide, we explain what American importers and manufacturers must know about single-use plastic regulations, bans, and exemptions in California, New York, Oregon, and many other states. Continue reading Single-Use Plastics Regulations in the United States: An Overview

Single-Use Plastic Regulations in the  European Union: An Overview

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Single Use Plastic Straws

Single-use plastics generally refer to certain types of disposable plastic products. For example, this includes everyday items such as plastic straws, cups, and shopping bags. That said, the single-use plastics are on the way out, and the European Union is taking the lead.

Keep reading, and learn what importers and manufacturers must know about single-use plastics regulations in the European Union.
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