European food contact

EU Food grade Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004 of EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 27 October 2004－on materials and articles intended to come into contact with food and repealing Directives 80/590/EEC and 89/109/EEC has been issued. The products sold in the markets of EU member states must follow the directive strictly. Different EU countries established their own national regulations on the food grade contact materials with specific testing requirements, such as Germany, France and Italy, etc.

The frame regulation 1935/2004 has clearly listed the conditions that must be met for article/material in contact with food:

1. Conforms to the good manufacture standard(Good Manufacturing Practice, GMP);
2. Can’t release dangerous ingredient to the human body;
3. Cause the change which the food ingredient produces cannot accept;
4. Reduce the sensory change comes from article/material (to cause food flavor, smell, color change, etc.);
5. The material, the product label, the advertisement and the explanation should not mislead the consumer.

Applicable scope of regulation: The frame regulation is applicable to all the materials and the goods which contact with food under all the conditions (Possibly including printing ink, adhesive label and so on )However, it is not especially applicable to the surfacing matters that are eaten as a part of the food(e.g. sausage coat); it is not applicable to some materials and goods which are used in public and in the consumer water-supply system, because they implement their respective laws. According to No.6 clause of the new authorized law taken by the member states, the relevant regulations can be maintained and adopted when there are no specific regulations on all kinds of materials and products.

Food Contact of European Countries:

1. Germany Food Contact
2. French Food Contact
3. Italy Food Contact

USA food contact

In U.S.FDA regulated the majority of food-contact products through the Food Additive Petition (FAP) process. If a food additive or food contact material was found to be suitable for the intended use through the FAP process, this material was added to the appropriate regulation in U.S.FDA 21 Carports 170 through 189.These regulations are generic and apply to any manufacturer who can produce material that meets the given end-tests in the applicable regulation.

US Food Grade: U.S.FDA CFR 21 Part 175 -189& FDA CPG 7117.05.06.07

General requirement for material in contact with food:

• Factory is under GMP system
• Material used meets the definition of the material in corresponding subtitle (US FDA CFR 21 Part 170-189)
• Raw material in compliance with the specification defined in sub-title (US FDA CFR Part 170-189)
• Any new material put into market must be approved by US FDA(Similar to new EU Food grade Directive 2004/1935/EC)