Food Contact Materials | Monthly bulletin | April 2020
Regulatory news - Eurofins updates
New Circular Economy Action Plan
On 11th March 2020, European Commission published the new Circular Economy Action Plan for a cleaner and more competitive Europe. The plan presents a set of interrelated initiatives to establish a strong and coherent product policy. Further measures will be put in place to reduce waste and ensure that the EU has a well-functioning internal market for high quality secondary raw materials. The capacity of the EU to take responsibility for its waste will be also strengthened. This document is addressed to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions.
For getting the official publication, go the European Commission website here.
Please find below a table summarising the most recent technical publications on food contact materials (non-exhaustive):
|
Date |
Countries |
Entity |
Title |
|
12-02-2020 |
France |
Direction de l'information légale et administrative (Premier ministre) |
The law relating to the fight against waste and the circular economy was published in the Official Journal
For more information, please click here |
|
20-02-2020 |
Germany |
German Environment Agency (UBA) |
UBA published the results of a study investigating the suitability of potential substitutes for the chemical bisphenol A (BPA; CAS 80-05-7)
Bewertung des endokrinen Potenzials von Bisphenol Alternativstoffen in umweltrelevanten Verwendungen.” (in German) |
|
26-02-2020 |
Europe |
European Commission (EC) |
EC published documents about the last meeting held by the working group on food contact materials (FCM) of the toxicological safety section of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed (SC-PAFF) |
|
28-02-2020 |
Europe |
European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) |
The JRC launched an inter-laboratory comparison study to identify and harmonise methods to measure microplastics in water
Finding the right methods for measuring microplastics in water |
Please find below a table summarising the most recent public consultation on food contact materials (non-exhaustive):
|
Date |
Countries |
Entity |
Title |
|
05-02-2020 |
Europe |
Council of Europe |
Until 16th March 2020, open consultation on a set of general technical provisions on food contact materials and articles and specific provisions for paper and board food contact materials and articles, to be appended at an upcoming Council of Europe meeting, is ongoing
For more information, visit the Council of Europe’s website here |
|
24-02-2020 |
Europe |
European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) |
EFSA published its draft scientific opinion on the risks to human health arising from the presence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in food, currently under public consultation until 20 April 2020
For more information, please visit the EFSA’s website here |
|
16-03-2020 |
Thailand |
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of Thailand |
FDA opened a public consultation to determine the quality or standard of containers made of plastic, in order to improve the notification in the Ministry of Public Health (Issue 295) 2005. It is considering allowing plastic containers made from recycled plastic pellets
Therefore, the FDA wants to compile information about the reactants that are used in the production of plastics. Containers to be reviewed are made from recycled polyethylene terephthalate (Polyethylene terephthalate; PET) and High Density Polyethylene (HDPE)
Comments may be submitted until 10th April 2020
To view the official questionnaire, please visit the Food and Drug Administration’s website here |
Regulatory proposals notified to WTO
Please see the below table summarising the most recent notifications made to the World Trade Organization (WTO) (non-exhaustive):
|
Notification number |
Countries |
Title |
|
India |
Plain Copier Paper (Quality Control) Order, 2020
As mentioned in the Plain Copier Paper (Quality Control) Order, 2020, as attached |
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 16 alerts regarding Food Contact Materials were reported from the 16th February of 2020 to 15th March of 2020.
|
Product |
Substance / Hazard |
|
|
Metal baking pans |
Migration of aluminium (9.1 mg/kg - ppm) |
|
|
Melamine plates |
Migration of melamine (4.59 mg/kg - ppm) |
|
|
Melamine decorated children plates |
Migration of melamine (4.58 mg/kg - ppm) |
|
|
Silicone moulds |
Migration of volatile organic constituents (1.5-1.8 %) |
|
|
Bamboo lunch boxes |
Migration of formaldehyde (48.4 mg/kg - ppm) and of melamine (16.7 mg/kg - ppm) |
|
|
Set of kitchen tools |
Migration of volatile organic constituents (1.4 mg/kg - ppm) |
|
|
Grill |
Migration of nickel (0.277 mg/l) |
|
|
Pliers and barbeque set |
Migration of chromium (3.6 mg/kg - ppm) and too high level of overall migration (18 mg/dm²) |
|
|
Melamine plates |
Migration of melamine (3.64 mg/kg - ppm) |
|
|
Aluminium trays |
Too high level of overall migration (10.5 mg/dm²) |
|
|
Slotted turner |
Migration of primary aromatic amines (0.4200 mg/kg - ppm) |
|
|
Nylon spoons |
Migration of primary aromatic amines (0.6459 mg/kg - ppm) |
|
|
Cans containing peeled tomatoes |
Inner coating peeling off |
|
|
Muffin tins |
3-monochlor-1,2-propanediol (3-MCPD) (48.9; 70 µg/l) and 1,3-dichloropropanol (1,3-DCP) (2.1; 2 µg/l) |
|
|
Plastic bowls |
Migration of melamine (3.82 mg/kg - ppm) |
|
|
Pressure cookers |
Migration of aluminium (68.2 mg/kg - ppm) |
|
From the 16th February of 2020 to the 15th March of 2020, the CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission) published the following recalls: 0 recalls regarding Food Contact Materials.
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