The hottest interpretation of the new EU regulatio

Interpretation of the new EU regulations on materials in contact with food

with the continuous expansion of the fields involved in food safety, the safety of materials in contact with food has been placed on the agenda of close monitoring by governments all over the world. EU legislation on food contact materials began in the mid-1970s. The earliest directive is 76/893/EEC "Regulations on food contact materials and products", which is a framework directive. Its purpose is to coordinate the legislation of member states in this field and make the mandatory technical requirements of countries tend to be consistent. Up to now, there are 34 regulations or directives involving food contact materials and products. The current regulation is a regulation (EC) no.1935/2004 on food contact materials adopted by the European Parliament and the European Council on November 13, 2004. This regulation not only replaces the previously implemented 80/590/EEC and 89/109/EEC directives, but also inherits and develops the previous regulations in content. The implementation of the directive will not only affect China's export of food packaging materials to the EU, but also have a broader impact on China's export of food exported to Europe due to the corresponding packaging material problems

EC no.1935/2004 is the latest EU basic framework regulation on materials and products in contact with food. What is different from the past is that in the past, the framework provisions were in the form of directives, which needed to be converted by Member States, but this time they were directly promulgated in the form of regulations. This means that Member States should directly and completely comply with this regulation when the specimen is compressed axially without any conversion. In a sense, the legal effect of sheet metal corrosion is stronger and more direct

the regulation puts forward general requirements for materials and products in contact with food: all materials and products in contact with food entering the EU market should be produced according to good production practices. Under normal or foreseeable conditions of use, the amount of their constituent components transferred to food should not cause harm to human health, or unacceptable changes in food components, Or the effect of sensory characteristics is the deterioration of an orderly list of items, and the labels, advertisements and descriptions of materials and products should not mislead consumers

the regulation sets special requirements for active and intelligent materials and products: ① active materials and products can be tested by researchers under despicable conditions such as high humidity environment to cause changes in the sensory characteristics and composition of food, but the condition is that the changes should comply with the community regulations applicable to food. If there is no corresponding community regulations, the changes should comply with the relevant food regulations of Member States. ② When the supplementary rules on specific measures for active and intelligent materials and products have not been passed, the licensing and use of substances consciously incorporated into active materials and products and released into food or the surrounding environment of food shall comply with the community regulations applicable to food, as well as the provisions of this regulation and its implementation measures. ③ Active materials and products should not lead to changes in food composition or sensory characteristics, such as masking the rancidity of food, which may mislead consumers. ④ Smart materials and products should not give information about food status that may mislead consumers. ⑤ Active and intelligent materials and products that have come into contact with food should be fully identified so that consumers can identify them as inedible parts. ⑥ Active and intelligent materials and products shall be fully identified, indicating that the materials and products are active and/or intelligent

the regulation lists 17 applicable materials and products in Annex I, including active and intelligent materials and products, adhesives, pottery, cork, rubber, glass, ion exchange resins, metals and alloys, paper and paperboard, plastics, printing inks, regenerated cellulose, silicone, textiles, varnishes, waxes, wood. For these materials and products (including their composites) and recycled materials and products used in their production, the regulations require the formulation of specific measures. The contents of specific measures usually include: the list of substances allowed to be used in the manufacture of materials and products; Purity standards of these substances; Specific use conditions of these substances and in which materials and products they are used; The list of substances authorized to be incorporated into active or intelligent food contact materials and products, or the list of active or intelligent materials and products, including, if necessary, the specific conditions of use when these substances and/or materials and products are combined; Specific limit regulations on the migration of some or certain types of ingredients to the inside or surface of food, with due consideration to other exposure routes of these ingredients; Provisions on the overall limit of migration of ingredients to the inside or surface of food; Provisions aimed at protecting human health and avoiding any harm caused by materials and products in oral contact; Other provisions to ensure compliance with general requirements and special requirements for active and intelligent materials and products; Basic rules for checking compliance and provisions on sampling and analysis methods; Special provisions to ensure the traceability of materials and products; Additional provisions on labeling of active and intelligent materials and products. When necessary, formulate specific procedural rules applicable to certain types of materials and products and the process authorization used in their production

with regard to the authorization and list of substances permitted by the European Union, the regulations stipulate that new substances that wish to be added to the permitted directory should be applied to the national competent department according to the regulations, and after being evaluated by the European food safety agency, they should be authorized and approved by the European Commission. As for the authorization of Member States to take domestic measures, Article 6 of the regulation stipulates that when specific measures for various materials and products have not been formulated, the relevant provisions of member states are allowed to be maintained and adopted

the new regulations put forward traceability requirements for materials in contact with food. The new regulation stipulates that in order to facilitate the production control of materials, the recall of defective products, the acquisition and allocation of consumer information, the traceability of materials and products should be ensured at any stage

the new regulations also put forward new requirements for labels, which are also applicable to imported products. Therefore, it is also worthy of domestic attention

source: China Food News