20 October 2020

Food contact news october 2020

EUROPE: 15TH AMENDMENT TO THE EU PLASTICS REGULATION PUBLISHED

European Commission publishes final text further amending Regulation 10/2011 on plastic food contact materials and articles; includes introduction of approved use of new substances, updates specific migration limits, allows for migration testing of entire food processing equipment.

The European Commission published the 15th amendment to Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 on plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with food. The amendment follows through with changes described earlier, including the addition of three substances: (i) montmorillonite clay modified with hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide, (ii) phosphorous acid, triphenyl ester, polymer with alphahydro-omega-hydroxypoly[oxy(methyl-1,2-ethanediyl)], C10-16 alkyl ester (CAS 1227937-46-3), and (iii) titanium dioxide surface-treated with fluoride-modified alumina, including the nano form. Other changes include decreasing the non-detect limit for specific migration of (i) 1,3- phenylenediamine (CAS 108-45-2) from 0.01 mg/kg to 0.002 mg/kg food or food simulant and of (ii) primary aromatic amines from 0.01 mg/kg to 0.002 mg/kg food or food simulant. Specific migration limits for 24 elements were also updated or newly defined, and text was introduced allowing for migration testing to be done using entire appliances or pieces of equipment instead of verifying compliance of each individual part.

NORTH AMERICA: EPA ISSUES FINAL RULING ON LONG-CHAIN PFAS ACTION PLAN

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final ruling on the safe use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) recently

EPA prohibits companies from bringing products containing long-chain PFAS in surface coatings to market in the U.S. without regulatory review and approval. The ruling was issued under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), and includes review standards for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), two of the most commonly-used acids within the substance grouping. It prohibits companies from manufacturing, processing, or importing products that contain PFAS in a use case that could harm the environment or have negative impacts on human health, unless they have explicit review and approval from the EPA.