JavaScript is disabled. Please enable to continue!

Mobile search icon
Eurofins >> Consumer Product Testing >> Media Centre >> News >> Food Contact Materials | Monthly bulletin | February 2020

Food Contact Materials | Monthly bulletin | February 2020

Sidebar Image

Eurofins newsflash Food Contact Materials

Regulatory news - Eurofins updates  

 

Regulatory news


 

UK

 

The United Kingdom has left the European Union 

 

On the 1st February 2020, the United Kingdom left the European Union. At this moment there is a transition period until the end of 2020 while the UK and EU negotiate additional arrangements. The current standards and legislations for the UK and EU will continue to apply during the transition period. New legislations will take effect on the 1st January 2021.

 

For further general information about Brexit click here to visit the GOV.UK website.

 

Europe

 

The Implementation of the Single-Use Plastics Directive

 

2021 will be the year of single-use plastics: The Directive (EU) 2019/904 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment will take effect, on 3rd July 2021, and the use of certain single-use plastic products will be prohibited. These measures shall achieve a measurable quantitative reduction in the consumption of the single-use plastic products by 2026 compared to 2022.Please find below a table summarising the main dates of this Directive.

 

Date

Single-use plastics

According to

03-07-2021

List of prohibited single-use plastic products:

 

  • Products made from oxo-degradable plastic
  • Cotton bud sticks
  • Cutlery (forks, knives, spoons, chopsticks)
  • Plates
  • Straws
  • Beverage stirrers
  • Sticks to be attached to and to support balloons
  • Food containers made of expanded polystyrene
  • Beverage containers, cups for beverages made of expanded polystyrene including their caps, lids and covers

Article 5 and Part B of the Annex

03-07-2021

List of products that shall have marking requirements:

 

  • Sanitary towels (pads), tampons and tampon applicators
  • Wet wipes (personal care and domestic wipes)
  • Tobacco products with filters and filters marketed for use in combination with tobacco products
  • Cups for beverages

Article 7 and part C of the Annex

03-07-2024

Beverage containers of up to three litres to have their plastic caps and lids attached to the container during the product’s intended use stage

 

The Directive calls for the adoption of relevant European standards

Article 6 and part C of the Annex

31-12-2024

List of single-use plastic products which are the extended producer responsibility:

 

  • Food containers
  • Packets and wrappers made from flexible material
  • Beverage containers with a capacity of up to three litres
  • Cups for beverages, including their covers and lids 
  • Lightweight plastic carrier bags
  • Wet wipes (personal care and domestic wipes)
  • Balloons
  • Tobacco products with filters and filters marketed for use in combination with tobacco products

Article 8 and part E of the Annex

 

Public consultation on endocrine disruptors

 

On the 16th December 2019, the European Commission opened a public consultation in relation to endocrine disruptors chemicals.

 

The purpose of the consultation was:

 

  • To assess public concerns and needs relating to endocrine disruptors in the EU
  • To evaluate to which extent current EU legislation meets the concerns and needs of citizens
  • To identify opportunities for improvement in the way endocrine disruptors are assessed, managed and potential risks communicated

You can contribute to this consultation until the 9th March 2020.

 

For more information, please visit the European Commission’s website here.

 

Technical publications

 

Please find below a table summarising the most recent technical publications on food contact materials (non-exhaustive):

 

Date

Countries

Entity

Title

18-11-2019

Germany

BfR

BfR Opinion No. 045/2019: Reducing aluminium intake can minimise potential health risks

01-11-2019

Germany

Umwelt Bundesamt

REACH: Improvement of guidance and methods for the identification and assessment of PMT/vPvM substances

13-12-2019

Germany

BfR

FAQs about aluminium in food and products intended for consumers

17-12-2019

Europe

BEUC

Time is ripe to repackage food safely

 

BEUC position on the regulation of Food Contact Materials

 

France

 

The ban of certain single-use plastic products

 

On the 27th December 2019, French authorities published the Decree nº 2019-1451 regarding the ban of certain single-use plastic products.

 

The aim of the decree is to indicate the conditions under which a ban should be applied on the availability of certain single-use plastic products such as straws, cutlery, steak spikes, disposable glass lids, meal trays, ice cream jars, salad bowls, boxes, mixing sticks for beverages, etc.

 

The provisions of this decree come into force on the January 1, 2020, with the exception of products compostable in domestic composting and made up, in whole or in part, of bio-based materials. For these excepted products, this decree will come into force on the 3rd July, 2021.

 

Turkey

 

Alignment of Turkish requirements with European requirements regarding Food contact plastics materials

 

On the 25th December 2019, the Turkish authorities published the following notifications in the Official Journal Nº 30989:

 

These notifications are the equivalence to the Commission Regulation (EU) No 10/2011.

 

US

 

Standards updates

 

See below a table summarising the most recent ASTM standard updates:

 

Reference

Title

ASTM D4297 - 15(2020)

Standard Practice for Sampling and Handling Bisphenol A(4,4′ -Isopropylidinediphenol)

 

New substances added to FDA inventory of Effective Food Contact Substances

 

The following substances have been recently added to the Inventory of Effective Food Contact Substances (FCS) Notifications of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

 

FCN number

Substances

Date

2009

An aqueous mixture of peroxyacetic acid (PAA) (CAS Reg. No. 79-21-0), hydrogen peroxide (HP) (CAS Reg. No. 7722-84-1), acetic acid (AA) (CAS Reg. No. 64-19-7), and, optionally, sulfuric acid (SA) (CAS Reg. No. 7664-93-9)

Oct 30, 2019

2006

An aqueous mixture of peroxyacetic acid (PAA) (CAS Reg. No. 79-21-0), hydrogen peroxide (HP) (CAS Reg. No. 7722-84-1), acetic acid (AA) (CAS Reg. No. 64-19-7), sulfuric acid (SA) (CAS reg. No. 7664-93-9), and 1-hydroxyethylidine-1,1- diphosphonic acid (HEDP) (CAS Reg. No. 2809-21-4)

Oct 23, 2019

2004

Carbamodithioic acid, N,N-dibutyl-, C,C'-methylene ester (CAS Reg. No. 10254-57-6)

Oct 9, 2019

2002

Polyurethane resin produced by reacting a mixture of 2,4-toluene diisocyanate (CAS Reg. No. 584-84-9) and 2,6-toluene diisocyanate (CAS Reg. No. 91-08-7) with polyoxyethylene-polyoxypropylene glyceryl ether (CAS Reg. No. 9082-00-2) and 1,4-butanediol (CAS Reg. No. 110-63-4)

Oct 3, 2019

1998

Triphenyl phosphite, polymer with 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol and polypropylene glycol, C10-16 alkyl esters (CAS Reg. No. 1821217-71-3)

Oct 29, 2019

1995

An aqueous mixture of peroxylactic acid (PAA) (CAS Reg. No. 75033-25-9), hydrogen peroxide (HP) (CAS Reg. No. 7722-84-1), lactic acid (LA) (CAS Reg. No. 50-21-5), optionally 1-hydroxyethylidine-1,1-diphosphonic acid (HEDP) (CAS Reg. No. 2809-21-4), optionally sulfuric acid (SA) (CAS Reg. No. 7664-93-9), optionally dipicolinic acid (DPA) (CAS Reg. No. 499-83-2), and optionally phosphoric acid (PA) (CAS Reg. No. 7664-38-2)

Oct 30, 2019

1993

1,3-Benzenedicarboxylic acid, 5-sulfo-, 1,3-dimethyl ester, sodium salt (1:1), polymer with dimethyl 1,4-benzenedicarboxylate and 1,2-ethanediol (CAS Reg. No. 27937-63-9)

Oct 29, 2019

 

PFAS Actions

 

As previously announced in our Eurofins News Flash in December 2019date regarding the availability of a scientifically-validated method for testing 16 types of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in a variety of food groups.

 

Other entities are following the FDA’s lead in relation to persuing action on PFAS substances.

 

In November 2019, Connecticut published its PFAS Action plan with the aim of health of Connecticut residents and the environment. The mains points of this plan are:

 

  1. Minimise the environmental exposure of PFAS to Connecticut residents
  2. Minimise future releases of PFAS into the environment
  3. Identify, assess, and clean up historical releases of PFAS into the environment

In December, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published its PFAS Action plan with the aim of protecting public health.

 

PFASs are extremely persistent in the environment and have been associated with a number of health hazards, including endocrine disruption, developmental and reproductive toxicity, and immunotoxicity. They are used in many applications such as food packaging made of paper and paperboard among others. For this reason, these substances have to be monitored very closely.

 

Brazil

 

Adoption Mercosur requirements for food contact materials

 

On the 4th December 2019, Brazil’s National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) published Resolution of the Collegiate Board (Resolução Da Directoria Colegiada - RDC) No. 326. This technical regulation incorporates Mercosur resolution 39/2019 into Brazilian law and repeals RDC 17/2008. It establishes the positive list of additives intended for elaboration of plastic materials and coating polymeric materials in contact with food and provides relevant measures. It will take effect 180 days after the date of adoption.

 

Product Recalls / Alerts

 

Below you will find a monthly summary table of product recalls and alerts in Europe (Source “RASFF”) and in the US (Source “CPSC”).

 

Europe

 

RASFF (European Commission Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed - Alerts reported by EU national authorities).

 

The following 11 alerts regarding Food Contact Materials were reported from the 21st December of 2019 to 20th January of 2020.

 

Product

Substance / Hazard

Travel mugs

Migration of DBP - dibutyl phthalate (1.8 mg/kg - ppm)

Details

Black laminated cardboard not suitable to contain food

Ink contamination due to polypropylene foil missing

Details

Enamelled pot

Migration of aluminium (0.80 mg/l)

Details

Biobased disposable tableware

Level of overall migration of acetic acid too high (3 %)

Details

Bamboo mug

Migration of formaldehyde (188.2 mg/kg - ppm)

Details

Pressure cookers

Migration of aluminium (47, 33, 33 mg/kg - ppm)

Details

Enamelled bowls

Migration of aluminium (0.55 mg/l)

Details

Melamine plastic plates

Migration of melamine (3.86; 3.91 mg/kg - ppm)

Details

Cutting board

Level of overall migration too high (61.3+/-6.1 mg/dm²)

Details

Mug

Migration of cadmium (3.0, 2.9 mg/dm²)

Details

Mugs

Migration of formaldehyde (43 mg/dm²) and level of overall migration too high (14.2 mg/dm²)

Details

 

US

 

From the 21st December of 2019 to the 20th January of 2020, the CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission) published the following recalls: 2 recall regarding Food Contact Materials.

 

Type of Risk

Number of alerts

Notes

Laceration hazard

1

Milk bottles: The bottles can break unexpectedly during use

Fire hazard

1

Travel mugs: The mugs are mislabeled as microwave safe. If microwaved, the metallic print on the mug can spark

 

 

Eurofins updates 


Top▲ 

DIN CERTCO approved Eurofins for biodegradability testing

 

One of the major Certification bodies, DIN CERTCO - issuing the so called seedling logo – has recently approved Eurofins Consumer Product Testing in Hamburg/Germany as recognized test laboratory to prove the demands of biodegradability and industrial compostability of packaging materials, intermediates and additives. All relevant testing can be executed by Eurofins to achieve the certification by DIN CERTCO.

 

Read more >>