Food Packaging Migration

EU Framework Regulation on Food Contact Materials

EC Regulation 1935(2004)

Until 2004, the general Framework of legislation for food contact materials was laid out in EC Directive 89/109/EEC, but the rapid pace of development of food contact materials combined with an increased move towards traceability in the food industry led to a need for new legislation. This was finally introduced in EC Regulation 1935(2004).

EC Regulation 1935(2004) sets out some very general rules that should be met by all classes of food packaging materials, namely that they do not under their normal or foreseeable conditions of use, transfer constituents to foodstuffs in quantities which could:

endanger human health; or
bring about an unacceptable change in the composition of the food; or
bring about a deterioration in the organoleptic characteristics(taste, smell texture etc) thereof.

These goals are all eminently sensible, but do not offer any specific advice on how to demonstrate that they have been met, so the Framework regulation also states that the EU will bring forward ‘specific measures’ for various different types of food packaging materials, for example plastics, paper, ceramics, regenerated cellulose, active and intelligent packaging etc. These ‘measures’ could either be in the form of EU Directives or Regulations.

Using Specific Measures to Demonstrate Compliance

To date, the extent of specific EU legislation in food contact is limited to plastics, regenerated cellulose, ceramics and some classes of coatings. Of these the best-known set of legislation is in the area of plastics, and this is outlined in EC Directive 2002/72/EC and its amendments. In general, for a material covered by the scope of the plastics Directive, compliance with the requirements of ECD 2002/72/EC will go most of the way towards demonstrating compliance with the Framework Regulation. The same applies for cellophane, ceramics etc, provided that they comply with their own specific Directives.

Pira can help you to devise programmes to demonstrate compliance with all of these various requirements.

What happens for materials with no specific EU Legislation?

For paper, adhesives and other materials without their own specific legislation, it can be more complicated to demonstrate compliance with the general requirements of the Framework Regulation, but there are a number of acceptable options including;

Use of the National Rules of EU member states (provided they have not been superseded by EU Directives or Regulations)
Safety Assessment using the EU’s Synoptic Document
General Industry Codes of Practice and council of Europe Resolutions.

Pira can help guide you through these various options.

What else is in EC Regulation 1935(2004).

The Framework Regulation also contains a number of other important clauses, which apply even if you already comply with a specific Directive for your type of Food Packaging Material;

Article 4 sets out special requirements for active and intelligent materials and articles
Articles 8 & 9 define the rules for authorisation of new substances such as monomers and plastics additives
Article 15 gives labelling rules for food contact materials
Article 16 sets out the requirements for the declaration of compliance that should accompany food contact materials throughout the food packaging chain
Article 17 lays out traceability requirements for food packaging materials that are due to come into force on 27 October 2006
Lastly, its worth remembering that food contact articles should not introduce any off-flavours or odours to foods, as specified in the general terms of this regulation

If you need some more help to find out how the requirements of the Framework Regulation could affect your products, please refer to the contacts below.